


Love Interest

by NyanBerri



Series: Servamp Family AU [5]
Category: Servamp (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Alternate Universe, As long as I'm in charge Sakuya will never be happy, Background Ryusei x Koyuki, Blood, Brotherly Bonding, Brotherly Love, Cat!Kuro, Fox Tsubaki separate from Melancholy, Fox!Tsubaki, Implied LawLicht, Implied TsuBeru, Implied/Referenced Underage Drinking, Love Triangles, M/M, Off Brand Tekken, One-sided SakuMahi, Pining, Romance, Smoking, Supernatural Elements, alcohol mention, cat kuro separate from sleepy ash
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-09
Updated: 2018-03-10
Packaged: 2019-03-15 19:27:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 58,207
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13620129
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NyanBerri/pseuds/NyanBerri
Summary: Part of my Servamp Family AU.--The Mother and All of Love force Sleepy Ash outside the house. He's having a miserable time until he bumps into the cutest boy he's ever seen. Suddenly his life looks a little brighter than before.





	1. Mahiru, The Human

**Author's Note:**

> I really should not be starting _another_ multi-chapter fic, but I started this one back in January 2017 so finishing the first chapter now doesn't feel too wrong. At least it's another thing to cross off my list of things to finish. And hey! Mahiru's finally here in my Family AU! I'm so happy he finally gets to get in involved (　^ω^)
> 
> Anyway, enjoy that sweet, sweet KuroMahi~
> 
> As per usual, please inform me of any errors you spot. I'm not the best at finding them myself.

Kuro yawned and laid his head down on Ash’s shoulder. Ash reached over and rubbed a finger under the small cat’s chin.

“I know buddy, I'm tired too. And I really don't wanna be here.” Ash muttered to Kuro.

“Ash, I'm right here. I can hear you.” All Of Love said, looking away from the rack of clothing to pout at his eldest brother.

“I know. I don't wanna be here. I made a mistake letting you two force me outta the house.” Sleepy Ash retorted.

“Well if you got out more you'd get used to it.” The Mother said, walking up behind Ash with several dresses draped over her arm.

“Ooohh! Let me see those! They look so lovely!” All Of Love leaned in to get a closer look at his sister's selections.

The Mother held up the dress at the top of the stack and placed it in front of her body. “Do you think this one is black enough? It looks more like a dark gray to me.”

“Oh, you're right. It does.” Love agreed.

“Uuugghhhh…” Ash groaned and pressed his face into a nearby wall.

The Mother sighed and placed down the dress in her hand. “Listen Ash, why don't you go look around for something for yourself and whatever it is I'll get it for you. Just please, don't start doing that groaning thing.”

“Eh.” Ash replied and trudged away from his siblings to see what he could find.

“Ugh, this was supposed to a girls day out. Remind me why I agreed to let him come?” The Mother questioned.

“Because I begged you since I was worried that Ash might need some fresh air and sunlight.” Love answered.

“He practically lives off darkness and inhaling cat fur. He doesn't need sunlight. Trust me, he's like a vampire.” The Mother complained.

“Hehe, I think vampire is a bit of a stretch.” Love replied with a nervous giggle.

Ash glanced around the boutique. It wasn't really his style, quite literally, and he didn't think he'd have any luck finding something he'd actually be interested in enough to want to buy. There wasn't even anything that he thought would look good if he ripped the edges or made a few holes. He really regretted believing All Of Love that he'd ‘enjoy’ going out for the day. At least he wasn't suffering alone, he had Kuro with him after all. He thumbed around at a rack of pants, but nothing caught his eye. Probably because he was still on the women’s side of the store. He made a slow beeline for the other end where the men's clothes were.

Kuro perked his head up and let out a meow. While walking Ash glanced down at the cat on his shoulder. “Somethin’ wrong, Kuro?”

Sleepy Ash, without knowing, walked right in front of a young man, causing him to bump into Ash. Ash, being the bigger person, only stumbled a little, but the boy practically bounced off Ash and onto the floor.

“Oh geez, Mahiru! Are you alright?” Asked the taller of the two accompanying Ash’s ‘victim’.

The boy on the ground, Mahiru, rubbed his head and stood up with the help of his taller friend. “Uh, yeah. Hehe, I'm okay. Thanks, Koyuki.”

Ash stood there nervously, too embarrassed to get a word out.

“...Uh… Um. I-I'm s-sorr-” Ash froze when the boy looked up at him and the two made eye contact.

Ash went wide eyed and his face felt like it was starting to burn. This guy, Mahiru, gave Ash a sick feeling in his stomach and his legs almost went out on him. He felt dizzier the longer he stared into Mahiru’s eyes. It was like everything around Ash disappeared and all he could see was Mahiru and his perfect hair, his perfect eyes, his perfect face, his perfect everything. Those beautiful brown eyes stared right back at him and despite how cliche it sounded, Ash really did feel lost in Mahiru’s eyes. And that voice. He may have only heard one sentence from Mahiru, but to Ash it already sounded like the voice of an angel.

“-sh! Ash! Earth to Sleepy Ash!” The Mother snapped her fingers in front of Ash’s face.

“Huh? Wha…?” Ash muttered as he flinched and came back to reality.

“I said apologize to the kid! It was your fault wasn't it.” She complained.

“Oh no, really! It's okay! It was probably my fault anyway.” Mahiru protested.

“Really, Mahiru? I totally saw that guy keep walking without looking. It was in no way your fault.” Mahiru’s shorter, blonde friend piped in.

“Regardless of whose fault it was, I'm still sorry. Oh, my name is Mahiru Shirota. These are my friends Ryusei and Koyuki.” Mahiru introduced himself and held out a hand.

All Ash could do was glance from Mahiru’s face to his hand. The gorgeous smile on the brunet’s face was distracting Ash. He could hear Love giggle and The Mother groan behind him at having to watch their brother stare at the other with a completely red face.

“You'll have to excuse him. He's shy. This is Sleepy Ash. I'm his brother, All Of Love, and this is our sister, The Mother.” Love stepped in and spoke for Ash.

Mahiru put his hand down and the three friends gave the three siblings some very odd looks. Those certainly weren't names you'd hear on a daily basis. Ryusei opened his mouth to make a quick joke, but Mahiru spoke before his friend could do so.

“It's nice to meet you all. May I ask your cat's name?” Mahiru asked.

“K-Kuro… Y-you can pet him if you want!” Ash replied, albeit with a bad stutter.

Kuro turned to Ash with a shocked and slightly annoyed expression. The problem was that Kuro absolutely hated strangers touching him, but Ash almost never let it happen so it wasn't ever a problem. It was a problem now, however.

“Are you sure?” Mahiru questioned.

“Yeah! Of course, it's fine.” Ash reassured him in a cheerful tone that was completely uncharacteristic of him.

Ash picked Kuro up off his shoulder and held him out for Mahiru. Mahiru and his friends’ faces lit up as Mahiru gently took Kuro from Ash’s hands. Kuro glared at Ash and begged for his owner to take him back. Ryusei and Koyuki rubbed Kuro’s head while Mahiru held him. Koyuki kept baby talking to Kuro, which made the cat even more uncomfortable.

“I can't believe you're letting them pet Kuro.” The Mother whispered.

“What can I say, chicks dig cats.” Ash responded.

“But… they're not chicks Ash.” Love stated.

“What can I say, cute guys dig cats.” Ash corrected himself.

His younger siblings simply stared at Ash in astonishment. He'd never shown interest in another person like that, let alone confessed it to others. 

“His fur is so soft. He's the fluffiest cat I've ever felt, haha!” The sound of Mahiru’s laugh made Ash grip at his chest.

The boy stopped petting Kuro for a moment when he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He pulled it out to check his messages and frowned when he read it.

“Sorry guys, my uncle is here to pick us up.” Mahiru said.

Ryusei and Koyuki both groaned in response. Mahiru held Kuro out for Ash to take him back. When Ash took him back he could see how distraught Kuro was. He felt a little bad about allowing Kuro to be forced into a bad situation, but if it won him points with Mahiru the poor guy would have to put up with it.

“We have to go now, but it was nice meeting you all, even if it was due to bumping into each other. And thank you for letting me pet your cat, Sleepy Ash.” Mahiru smiled at Ash.

“Uh… Y-you can just call me A-Ash. And… It was nice m-meeting you too.” Ash mumbled out.

As Mahiru and his friends left the boutique Ash stared at Mahiru the entire time. He realized he started squeezing Kuro in his arms and the cat jumped up to lay on his shoulder.

“Alright, talk Ash. What the hell was that?” The Mother questioned.

“Do you think he noticed how you could barely form a sentence properly?” Love wondered.

“He's the most beautiful, perfect, pure thing I've ever seen in my entire life.” Ash stated.

The Mother put a hand over her eyes. “Oh no. He's in love.”

“Awww~ Ash is in love with a cute human boy!” Love giggled as he lightly clapped in celebration.

“D-don't say anything to the others. Especially Lawless and Old Child, they'd have a field day about it if they knew.” Ash warned, feeling embarrassed.

“I hate to burst your heart shaped bubble, but I don't think falling for a human is a good idea. They die easily. Plus if he didn't know who you were by your last name alone then once he finds out the truth he'll be scared off.” The Mother advised.

“Says the widow.” Ash retorted.

His sister punched him in the arm. Not with all her strength, but enough to make sure Ash would regret saying that.

“Ow! Can't deaal…” Ash whined and rubbed his sore arm.

“I said it because of that. Even if he was willing to be with you despite knowing who you are, you'd still lose him. Humans die and we don't.” She stated.

Ash frowned and looked away from his sister. Of course she had to be the one to point out reality. He knew she was just trying to look out for him, but that didn't mean he had to like it. All Of Love tried to butt himself in between his two older siblings.

“U-um… Let's keep in mind that you might never even see him again so none of this actually matters in the first place.” Love said, hoping to ease the tension he was feeling from them.

Sleepy Ash and The Mother realized he was right. Kuro meowed and nodded his head, meaning he was agreeing with Love. Neither of the elder two said anything and Love felt like he completely ruined their time in town together.

“Whhhy don't we go home, huh? There was nothing interesting here anyway and you decided not to get any of those dresses. I'm sure Ash and Kuro would like to go home too.” Love added.

Kuro meowed again and this time it was a lot more excitable. After being forcibly pet by three strangers he was definitely ready to go back home and lay in his bed. 

“I’m always up for going home.” Ash stated and started to walk to the entrance of the boutique without waiting for the other two.

The Mother sighed and followed after Ash. “Fine, might as well.”

“Wait for me!” Love shouted as he chased after them.

Back home Ash laid wide awake in his bed. Unlike the rest of the house, Ash couldn't sleep, although usually that was normal, it was just the reason this time that made it odd. He tossed and turned but couldn't find a position he was comfortable with.

“Kuro. I can't sleep.” Ash said, staring up at the torn up ceiling of his room.

Kuro opened his eyes and tried to stay still in his own bed. Maybe if he didn't move Ash would stop talking.

“I can't stop thinking about Mahiru.”

Clearly that wasn't going to work then.

“Mahiru Shirota… That's a beautiful name.”

Kuro shoved his face down onto his bed and flattened his ears.

“Do you think he likes cats? He really seemed to like you.”

Kuro bit into his bed.

“What if he's a cat person? We’d have a lot in common already if so.”

Kuro let out a soft hiss.

“Oh? You don't think so? Well, you are a cat. I suppose you'd be able to tell that sorta thing.”

Finally fed up with it, Kuro got up from his bed. He made his way to the window that was always left halfway open for him and jumped up on the windowsill. Ash sat up and watched as Kuro glanced back at him before jumping out the window.

“What was that for?” Ash questioned.

It was several days later, ten in fact, when Ash came downstairs during the afternoon to grab a snack from the kitchen. He entered the main room to see All Of Love, Lawless, and World End. 

“Ay, look who finally left his cave. Nyash!” Lawless announced.

Ash scowled and made his way to the fridge.

“Oh, Ash! Perfect timing! We were just about to leave.” Love said.

“No! Don't you dare invite him! He's no fun!” Lawless protested.

“Wow, gee… Thanks.” Ash grumbled sarcastically as he looked in the fridge.

“Eh, the more the merrier, right? Besides, Sis and Doubt didn't wanna go, Old Child looks too young, and we don't invite Tsubaki out to drink anymore. Not after last time.” Wor said.

“Wait, what are you doing?” Ash asked and turned around.

“We're going to a bar downtown. You really should come with us.” Love answered.

“Ugh, why do you keep inviting me to do stuff? You know all I do is complain the whole time.” Ash said and closed the fridge door, no longer interested in getting a snack.

“Well, it's important that you get out and socialize. You can't keep yourself cooped up in your room twenty-four seven. It's just not healthy.” Love explained.

“It’s not gonna kill me.” Was all Ash said even though he had plenty of other excuses he could list off.

“Drinking won't either!” Wor shouted.

Ash momentarily opened the door to the fridge again to show off the small number of beer cans inside. “I can drink at home. Besides, it's not my prefered activity.”

“The place we're going to is next to the arcade.” Love stated, knowing that would win Ash over.

“I'll grab my rolls of quarters.” Ash said as he sprinted out of the room to head upstairs.

“Why ya gotta invite Ash!?” Lawless complained.

“Can you put aside your differences with him for one night, please?” Love asked in a stern tone.

The assertiveness of his second youngest brother actually startled Lawless, which caused him to grow silent as they waited for Ash to return. Upstairs, Ash walked into his room to find Kuro coming in through the window. 

“Hey, goin’ to the arcade. Wanna join?” Ash asked the cat.

Kuro meowed and nodded his head. As Ash was picking up rolls of quarters from his desk and a little something extra, Kuro climbed up his leg then his arm to hang off his shoulder. Ash stuffed the quarters, which he kept specifically to use at the arcade, into his coat pockets and left his bedroom. As he shut the door, across the hall Old Child walked out of his own room.

“Hey Ash! Up to something?” He wondered.

“Uh, yeah. Love, Law, and Wor are going to the bar so I'm going with so I can go to the arcade.” Ash responded.

His younger brother’s face lit up and flashed a big smile.

“Can I join!? Please, please, pleeease!” Old Child begged.

“Mmn… but you don't care for games.” The elder stated.

“So!? If you're going somewhere then I wanna go too!” The younger exclaimed.

Ash groaned. He really didn't feel like babysitting Old Child at the arcade and the kid wouldn't be able to go with the other three since he looked like a toddler. 

“Uh… Yeah, sorry Old Child, but-”

“Aaaash! Please take me with you!” Old Child interrupted and latched onto his brother’s leg.

“Oh c'mon! Uugh, can't deal… Seriously Old Child, at least act your age about it.” Ash grumbled and lifted his leg up.

“If you want me to act my age then I might as well lay in a coffin six feet under! Please, Ash! We do everything together!”

“Not everything. Just most things. In the house. At home. Here. Not out there.”

“It’s not fair, Ash! It's not faaair!!”

“Please let go…”

At the end of the hall, Doubt Doubt’s bedroom door opened. The eldest two knew they messed up when they saw him calmly walk down the hall towards them. He stopped next to Ash and they both were silent as he stood there for a moment. Doubt grabbed Old Child by the back of the collar of his shirt and pulled the boy up. He let go of Ash’s leg and Doubt placed him on the ground.

“Stop.” He muttered before turning around and going back to his room.

Old Child, Ash, and Kuro simply stared as Doubt’s bedroom closed. It was a moment of silence before Old Child glared at Ash.

“Look what you did!” Old Child shouted.

“Me? I wasn't the one yelling.” Ash stated.

Doubt’s door opened again and he poked his arm out holding up one of his paper bags with a frowny face on it.

“Sorry.” The two brothers apologized.

The door closed again and the eldest two turned to glare at each other.

“I'm leaving now.” Ash whispered and began to walk down the stairs.

“Fine! I see how it is! Abandon your favorite little brother then!” Old Child whisper-yelled.

Ash made his way down to the first floor without another word. He went back into the main room to find the other three staring at him curiously.

“Was that you and Old Child arguing?” Love questioned.

“Yeah.” Ash said.

World End leaned back in his chair at the dining table and looked at Ash from an upside down perspective.

“Eh? It's not normal for you two to argue.” He noted.

Ash looked off to the side. “I know… Can we go before I change my mind?”

“Oh, yes. Finally!” Lawless cheered as he got up from his place at the dining table and began to make his way to the hall.

World End quickly jumped up and followed Lawless. All Of Love started walking too, but stopped next to Ash.

“Thank you for agreeing to go out more often, Ash.” Love said.

Ash nodded. “Ya might as well consider yourself lucky that I've been in the mood to go out lately.”

Love giggled and held out a hand. Ash looked at his baby brother’s hand then up to his face. Love had a seemingly innocent smile, but Ash knew there was something serious behind it. It dawned on him that he'd been caught before he even tried anything.

“You see right through everything, don't you?” Ash muttered as he sighed.

He pulled out a quarter attached to a string from his jacket pocket and reluctantly placed it in Love’s hand.

“I babysit children for a living, Ash. I'm good at telling these things.” Love stated and put the quarter in his own pocket. “Now come along.”

Ash was dragged out of the room by Love pulling on his wrist. The blonde’s grip seemed a little too tight as they walked to the front door where Lawless and Wor were waiting. Without another word between any of them, the four brothers headed out of the house. Kuro got an odd feeling and looked over his shoulder. At the top of the stairs he saw Old Child crouched down and peeking between the bars of the railing. Once the boy realized he was spotted he immediately backed up and ran into his room. Ash noticed Kuro seemed distracted so he rubbed a finger behind the cat’s ear, causing Kuro to let out a happy purr.

The walk downtown took a long while. Their house was on the edge of town and their sister didn't let anyone else drive her car, mainly because no one else had a license in the first place, plus World End’s moped could only uncomfortably fit two people. By the time they even got downtown Ash was already regretting leaving the house. He hated walking, he hated being in town, and he hated not being shut in his room. He had to keep reminding himself that it was all for the sake of the arcade, which was pretty much the only reason he left the house. Well, that and buying new video games, which he didn't trust anyone else to do for him.

Downtown wasn't even all that big of a deal in the first place. The town was pretty small so there wasn't much to see downtown. It was just where all the shopping and entertainment was located. There was a nice plaza though, with an actual working fountain unlike the broken one in the courtyard of the Ash household. The bar the youngest three were heading to was one that been there for over a century. It changed hands a few times, but it was one of the few places in town that the siblings were always accepted at. The arcade next to it was only a few decades old, but already Ash was considered a regular there. Most of the people there were teenagers and kids too so very rarely did Ash ever come across somebody that knew who he was.

The four brothers stopped in front of the entrance to the bar and Love turned to Ash.

“You sure you don't want to come in?” The blonde asked.

“Yeah. I'll have more fun by myself in the arcade anyway. Plus I brought Kuro and pets aren't allowed in.” Ash said.

Kuro looked annoyed at the mention of being classified as a pet.

“Ya just brought the furball so you'd have an excuse not to go in.” Lawless accused and Wor snickered.

“Hey, he's useful for more than just that.” Ash stated, remembering how Kuro was treated ten days ago.

Kuro let out a clearly aggravated sounding meow and World End scratched the top of his head.

“Anyway, I'm gonna go now.” Ash said as he started walking off to the arcade.

“Don't go anywhere else, Ash! It's not safe to wander off!” All Of Love called out.

Ash turned around as he kept walking. “I'm not one of those stupid rich kids you babysit, ya know… And I'm older than you.”

“Right, sorry. Force of habit. I just worry!” Love apologized.

“C’mon! Ash can handle himself! Let's have fun!” Wor shouted as he tried to pull Love into the bar by the arm.

“I'm coming, I'm coming! Kuro, please keep an eye on him!” Love requested and let himself get yanked inside in the bar.

Kuro meowed as a sign of acknowledgment, but didn't actually intend on doing such a thing. He was more Ash’s responsibility than Ash was his and he wasn't planning on putting forth any effort to do anything except hang onto Ash’s shoulder. Anything else wasn't worth it.

Ash stepped inside the arcade, which kept its door open, and noticed that there weren't many people inside. He was glad that it'd be less likely that someone would bother him. He slowly but immediately made his way to the back of the arcade where his favorite game was. The end of one of his coattails wrapped around the leg of a stool and he dragged it with him to the game machine. Positioning the stool in front of the machine, Ash took a seat and Kuro jumped down to lay in his lap, getting in a comfortable position so he could take a nap. Ash felt relieved to finally be sitting down after walking such a long distance. He pulled a roll of quarters out of his jacket pocket and immediately regretted letting Love take his trick quarter. Taking a few of the quarters out, he inserted them in the machine and started playing the game.

Kuro woke up from his nap an hour later and yawned. He looked up at Ash to see that his owner hadn't move an inch since he sat down. He seemed too distracted by the game to notice anything else around him. Kuro jumped down to the ground and started stretching his small body. Ash’s game ended and he looked down at his cat on the floor.

“Yeah, I should probably stretch too.” Ash said and raised his arms all the up to stretch them.

“Kuro!?” A slightly familiar voice shouted in a very happy tone.

Before the startled cat could do anything, a young man ran up and dropped to his knees. He picked Kuro up and held the tiny furball tightly against his chest. Kuro flailed his front paws and desperately meowed for help. Ash looked over and was pissed for a split second until he realized who it was that was assaulting his cat. Ash went wide eyed and he suddenly like his face was on fire.

“M-M-M-M-Mahiru!?” Ash shouted.

Mahiru looked up from the adorable cat in his arms and saw Sleepy Ash. He seemed a bit surprised, but still smiled at Ash. The sight of Mahiru smiling and holding Kuro was enough to make Ash melt on the inside. Behind Mahiru, his friends from before, Koyuki and Ryusei, walked up and joined Mahiru in petting Kuro.

“Hey, Ash! Good to see you and Kuro again.” Mahiru greeted.

Ash awkwardly got up from the stool and nervously stood there for a moment. He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. He was a bit too shy and anxious to say anything right away and he felt even worse since he was alone unlike last time. There was no All Of Love around to speak for him and it wasn't like Kuro would miraculously start talking in order to back him up.

“Uh… H-hey, Mahiru…” Was all Ash could get out.

Mahiru stood up and rubbed Kuro’s fluffy cheek against his own. Kuro tried not to hiss, but he really wanted to, and Ash had to look away or else risk having an imaginary heart attack. Koyuki focused on waving Kuro’s tail around and Ryusei stepped away to look at the machine Ash was just playing.

“I feel like I shouldn't be surprised to see you here. You kind of do look like the type of person who plays a lot of games.” Mahiru said, taking note of the dark circles under Ash’s eyes, his poor posture, and ragged looking jacket.

Koyuki walked over to bother Ryusei.

“I… uh… guess I could say that you don't seem like the type to play video games.” Ash muttered, realizing how proper Mahiru looked in the clothes he was wearing. It matched with the clothes his two friends were wearing and seemed like a uniform. Ash could've sworn he recognized the outfit, but couldn't remember where it was from.

“Ehehe… I'm not really. I mean, I've played games before with friends and stuff, but it's not something I'm all that interested in. I only came here because it was our friend Sakuya’s turn to pick the hangout location.” Mahiru explained.

Ryusei walked off for a moment and Koyuki followed him halfway until stopping next to Mahiru. Everyone watched the blonde curiously as he glared at a few unoccupied machines then came back. He glared at Ash, then the game he was playing earlier, then back at Ash. The hooded man worried that he messed up something and Ryusei was mad at him over it. He couldn't imagine what he might have done though.

“Wait a minute, wait a minute! Cogs turning, wheels moving, brain thinking… No! You're- You're the Ash that tops the leaderboards on every game here!?” Ryusei shouted and held his arms out to motion towards all the other machines in the arcade.

“Oh... Yeah, that's me.” Ash stated rather bluntly.

He was glad he didn't do something wrong, but he was now confused over why that was such a big deal to Ryusei. Mahiru took a step forward to look at the screen. The first score on the leaderboard belonged to an Ash and was at least ten times higher than the second place score, which belonged to someone going by Sky. Those two names filled up all ten slots on the list. Mahiru flinched upon realizing that he knew who Sky was. Unbeknownst to him, Kuro was frantically kicking his back paws in an attempt to get Mahiru to release him.

“Is that a problem?” Ash asked, realizing no one was saying anything anymore.

Ryusei was going to speak, but something else in the arcade stopped him.

“Dammit!!” Someone angrily shouted from the front of the arcade.

The three friends knew what happened without even being there, but Ash had a very confused expression on his face. They quickly walked off and Ash was unsure if he should follow them. He decided that Mahiru still holding Kuro was enough of an excuse so he followed the group to the front of the arcade where they crowded around someone sitting at another machine.

“Did you lose again?” Koyuki asked.

“Lemme guess, second place?” Ryusei assumed.

“I'm sorry. Maybe you'll get it next time.” Mahiru tried to say in a positive way.

Ash saw another guy get up from his spot in front of the machine. He had green hair in an odd messy style and dark gray eyes. He also wore a jacket the matched the one Mahiru and Ryusei were wearing. Ash leaned forward a bit to see the leaderboard of the game he was just playing. First place was a new record Ash got a few weeks ago and second place was also new, but it belonged to Sky. The person Ash knew as someone that was always trying to beat his scores, but he didn't actually know the person. Well, until now.

“It’s always next time!” The green haired guy complained.

“No, really, Sakuya. One day you'll do it. I know it!” Mahiru tried to cheer up his friend with a bright smile.

Sakuya blushed and looked away from Mahiru.

“Wait. You're Sky?” Ash questioned.

Everyone turned to Sleepy Ash and he suddenly felt embarrassed to have the group’s full attention. Sakuya especially didn't look too happy to see him. Neither Ash nor Sakuya were willing to say it, but they both actually recognized each other. Sakuya knew Ash as Tsubaki’s eldest brother and Ash knew Sakuya as a member of Tsubaki’s gang. Mahiru, who happened to be in between them, held a hand out towards Ash.

“Oh! Sakuya, this is Sleepy Ash.” Mahiru moved his hand towards Sakuya. “Ash, this is Sakuya Watanuki. I suppose you two sort of already know each other in an odd gamer kind of way.”

Ash and Sakuya glared at each other. They had barely ever even spoken more than a handful of words to each other, but neither of them liked a thing about the other. Finding out that they were actually gaming rivals at the arcade made them dislike the other even more than before. Ash didn't actually have anything against Sakuya, but since the first moment they met he could tell Sakuya was annoyed by him. He never knew why, but he never really bothered to find out why in the first place.

Kuro knew exactly what was going on, but Mahiru just looked back and forth between the taller males with a confused expression. He finally glanced over to Koyuki and Ryusei. Koyuki shrugged, but Ryusei took a step across from Mahiru to also stand between them.

“This, Mahiru, is a gamer’s rivalry. Seeing one with your own eyes is about as special as spotting a unicorn.” Ryusei explained with obviously fake knowledge.

If Kuro could talk he would've let Ryusei know that seeing a unicorn wasn't as special as humans thought it was.

“I say this is a good opportunity to watch two gamers duel each other!” Ryusei continued.

The two so-called ‘gamers’ looked at Ryusei in confusion.

“What are you getting at?” Sakuya questioned, sounding obviously annoyed.

“What I'm getting at is that you and Cat Boy over here should play a game you both can play at the same time to prove who the better gamer is.” The blonde suggested.

“Not to be rude, but... why?” Ash wondered, also confused over why he was called Cat Boy.

“Because Sakuya is always dragging us to the arcade just so he can try and beat your high scores. I don't consider it any fun so he might as well entertain us at the arcade for once.” Ryusei explained.

“But Ryusei! If Ash doesn't want to do that then you shouldn't rope him into something like this.” Mahiru tried to scold his friend.

“Nah, it's fine. I have confidence that I'll win anyway.” Ash muttered, only half trying to trash talk Sakuya.

Sakuya flinched and glared at Ash. “Fine then! You! Me! Nekken 9! Now!”

Ash looked off to the side and shrugged. “Okay, works for me.”

Sakuya practically stomped away and took a seat in front of the Nekken 9 game machine. Ash started to walk over to it, but Mahiru stepped in front of him.

“You really don't have to do this, Ash. Sakuya can get very competitive when it comes to games.” Mahiru told him.

Ash shook his head. “It's fine, I swear. I don't get many opportunities to fight against someone in a game in the first place. And I am kinda like his arch nemesis in a way. At least to him.”

Ash walked past Mahiru and took a seat on the other side of the machine. Koyuki and Ryusei walked up to Mahiru.

“So, whose side are you guys gonna take?” Ryusei asked.

“I'll pick Sakuya. I like rooting for the underdog!” Koyuki said with a big grin.

“Yeah, I'm picking Sakuya too. I just wanna get a good look at his face when he loses.” Ryusei admitted.

“Mahiru, you should go be on Ash’s side.” Koyuki suggested.

“Huh? Why? Who says I have to pick a side in the first place?” Mahiru deflected.

“Because you've been holding his cat this whole time.” Ryusei stated.

Mahiru flinched and looked down at the cat he'd been holding in his arms. The black cat looked up at Mahiru. He completely forgot he picked up Kuro. 

“I'm sorry, Kuro!” Mahiru apologized.

Kuro meowed as an acceptance of Mahiru’s apology and wormed his way out of the brunet’s arms. Instead of jumping to the ground to go be with Ash, Kuro climbed up Mahiru’s arm. It startled Mahiru, who didn't expect Kuro to do such a thing. Kuro hopped up from his shoulder to the top of Mahiru’s head and sprawled his little limbs out. Mahiru froze as Koyuki and Ryusei laughed at him. On one hand, he felt blessed by the cat gods to receive such an adorable gift, and on the other he felt embarrassed thanks to his friends laughing at him. Mahiru couldn't bring himself to remove his new ‘cat hat’ so he let Kuro be. 

The three friends made their way to the competitors who were already selecting their fighters. Koyuki and Ryusei stopped to stand on either side of Sakuya while Mahiru kept walking to the other side and stood by Sleepy Ash. Ash looked up at him, surprised once to see that Mahiru wasn't with his other friends and surprised again to see Kuro on Mahiru’s head. The only other people Kuro willingly sat on were Old Child, Doubt Doubt, and All Of Love. And he found it especially odd that Kuro was okay with lying on a human since the cat always seemed to have an aversion to them.

“Well!? Are you ready or do you wanna chicken out?” Sakuya interrogated.

Ash flinched and nodded, finalizing his selection. Mahiru didn't know anything about the game so he didn't realize how odd Ash’s selection was. The first round started and their opponent’s selected fighter was revealed to them. Koyuki couldn't help but start fawning over Ash’s choice. Ryusei snickered a little, but still had full confidence in Ash. Sakuya started laughing uncontrollably.

“Lucky Katie!? Really? Are you just gonna hand me the win? I mean sure, bring the cat aesthetic full circle all you want but you still gotta take this seriously, ya know!” Sakuya mocked him.

Without a word or even glancing away from the screen, Ash used his character to knock down Sakuya’s character, Shin Kazuma, while Sakuya wasn't paying attention. Sakuya flinched and tried to get his bearings, aggravated that he let his own guard down so easily. Obviously Ash was able to back up the reputation his high scores gave him. Sakuya desperately tried to get a hit on Ash, but all of Ash’s blocks, dodges, and counters seemed perfectly timed. Every time Ash started a combo there was seemingly no way Sakuya could get out of it.

“Wow, you're really getting your ass kicked there, Sakuya.” Ryusei noted.

“Shut!! Up!!” Sakuya shouted as he tried to focus.

“Aw! Be nice, Ryu.” Koyuki said and pouted at Ryusei.

Mahiru looked from his friends and down at Sleepy Ash. The blue-haired man seemed so focused to Mahiru. He didn't move at all except for his hands, his face remained blank and emotionless, he barely blinked, and Mahiru was starting to believe that Ash wasn't even breathing. It kind of impressed Mahiru even though it was just a video game. The first round ended with a win for Ash and Sakuya slammed a fist down on the machine. Ryusei snickered behind his back which elicited a disappointed expression from Koyuki. The only movement Ash made was a long yawn.

“Don't mock me, dammit!” Sakuya shouted at him.

“I'm not mocking you. I'm a guy with naturally low energy, I'm just tired right now... Feel like I could take a nap…” Ash quietly stated and rubbed his eyes before the next round started.

Mahiru was actually surprised. If Ash was as tired as he claimed to be and yet still managed to win the first round with barely a scratch then Mahiru couldn't imagine how good he was with full energy.

The second round started and Sakuya pulled out all the stops. He blocked and dodged with almost precision timing, but Ash didn't give him any chances to get a hit in. In fact, neither of them could hit the other. Sakuya was getting more frustrated as each second ticked away on the timer while Ash was still as calm and motionless as a robot. They were close to running out of time when Sakuya glanced at the timer for less than a second, allowing Ash to hit him. By the time he could react, Ash wouldn't allow him to get out of the combo. He couldn't get it together by the end of the combo and Ash was able to right into a second one. It left Sakuya with just a bit of health left, but luckily it was more than enough to activate Anger. Without thinking, Sakuya immediately attempted to use Shin’s Anger Art. Ash simply blocked it and started a final combo that defeated Sakuya. Without waiting for the match to be officially over, Ash stretched his arms out and popped his knuckles. Sakuya just sat there in disbelief, not uttering a single word.

“Guess what? You just lost to Lucky Katie!” Ash’s character in the game said, which echoed in Sakuya’s head.

“Oh, I was hoping he'd fly into a rage or something.” Ryusei muttered, disappointed at the anticlimactic reaction from Sakuya.

“Well… I hope that you can still finally stop trying to beat all of Ash’s scores now. You've been spending way too much of your time here lately.” Mahiru noted.

“I think Mahiru has a point, Sakuya. I bet your parents would like it if you were home more often too.” Koyuki advised.

Sakuya flinched and didn't move a muscle. At hearing Koyuki’s mention of parents, Ash also froze. Sakuya abruptly stood up.

“Fine.” Sakuya said and began to walk to the entrance of the arcade. “I'll just go home then.”

No one tried to stop Sakuya, but Mahiru really wished he could bring himself to chase after his friend.

“Ya don't need to be such a poor sport about it!” Ryusei called out.

He looked back to his other friends to find Mahiru and Koyuki glaring at him.

“What? Geez, I just mean that if we all came here together then there's no reason to leave by yourself over something so petty.” Ryusei claimed.

“You suggested they play a game in the first place, Ryu.” Koyuki said in frustration, but wasn't that good at being upset at his friend.

“I didn't make Sakuya lose.” Ryusei mumbled.

“Well, knowing Sakuya he'll cool off tonight and be back to normal by tomorrow.” Mahiru said.

He glanced down at Ash who hadn't moved or said anything since winning. Ash didn't care that he won, he barely even tried in the first place and now he couldn't stop fixating on what Koyuki said. Those words weren't meant for him and yet it just didn't sit right with Ash. Then again any mention of parents never sat right with him. Ash felt a hand touch his shoulder and he looked over to see Mahiru. His face turned bright red at the realization that Mahiru was touching him.

“I'm sorry about Sakuya, Ash.” Mahiru tried to apologize.

Ash immediately jumped up and stepped away from Mahiru. “A-again, it's fine… really.”

“You know… If Sakuya left then there really isn't a reason for us to be here anymore, is there?” Koyuki wondered.

“Nah. We only come here ‘cause of him. Might as well go home too. I don't think there's much time left to do something else before I have to go home anyway.” Ryusei said.

“Yeah, we have been out for a while today.” Koyuki stated.

“Want me to text my uncle to come get us then?” Mahiru asked.

His two friends nodded and he pulled out his phone. Mahiru stopped for a moment and glanced to Ash.

“Do you need a ride, Ash?” He questioned.

The idea of riding in a car with Mahiru sounded absolutely lovely to Ash, but he remembered his younger brothers were next door at the bar and leaving them alone to walk home probably drunk wasn't a smart idea.

“Uh, no… It’s okay. I actually came here with some of my brothers so I shouldn't leave without them.” Ash declined.

“Wait, really? Where are they?” Mahiru asked.

“Next door.” Ash replied.

“But next door is a bar.” Ryusei said with a confused expression.

“I know. I only came with them so I could come to the arcade.” Ash explained.

“Oh, it’s good to be the responsible one.” Koyuki happily said, not realizing how wrong he was.

“I feel ready to go home myself so I don't mind waiting with you guys if you want.” Ash suggested and turned away a bit.

“That sounds nice. If it's not too much of a bother then I'll like that.” Mahiru said with a smile.

Fortunately Ash couldn't see the smile on Mahiru’s face so he didn't have to risk fainting over something so sweet looking.

“Come on, Ryu! Let's wait outside!” Koyuki grabbed Ryusei by the hand and pulled him out of the arcade without waiting for a response.

Mahiru began to slowly follow his friends while texting his uncle. Ash walked with him, but lagged behind by a few feet. He realized Kuro had fallen asleep on Mahiru’s head. It was pretty adorable to Ash, enough to make him blush, so he kept his eyes focused on the ground while walking. Outside, Koyuki and Ryusei had already crossed the street to stand at the fountain in the plaza. They were looming over the edge of it and staring down at the water. It was dark outside now so the lights for the fountain kicked on. The four waterspouts were also shooting water out of the base and into the pool below. On top was a bronze statue of the town’s founder. To the three humans it was a beautiful sight to look at even though they were used to seeing it. To Ash, looking at the statue on top just pissed him off. Now that he thought about it, there was a plaque somewhere on the fountain that had the founder's full name on it. It sort of baffled Ash that other than Sakuya, none of the humans knew who he was. It was actually pretty hard to live in the small town and not ever hear or see the name Ash somewhere. He thought for a moment that Mahiru, Koyuki, and Ryusei were just playing dumb because it didn't matter to them who Ash was. It still didn't make sense to him either way, so he dropped the subject from his mind and kept walking with Mahiru. The brunet put his phone in his pocket and hopped onto the edge of the fountain to sit down. Ash simply leaned against it, hating the cold touch of the fountain that seeped through his clothes.

“My uncle said he'd be here in like fifteen minutes.” Mahiru announced.

Koyuki and Ryusei nodded. Ash glanced up at Mahiru to look at Kuro on his head again. Mahiru noticed Ash looking at him and tilted his head up to figure out what Ash was looking at. It dawned on him that Kuro was still on his head. He didn't want the cat sliding off so he tried to keep his head still. He wanted to pick Kuro right up off his head, but he didn't know Kuro was sleeping and he didn't quite know the best way to get him off.

“Here, lemme get him.” Ash said.

He stood in front of Mahiru and reached his hands up to gently slide his thumbs under Kuro. He felt his fingers lightly brush Mahiru’s short brown hair and he had to use every ounce of his willpower not to show on his face how much he wanted to keep his hands there. So he could get it over with, Ash quickly scooped up Kuro, which woke up the small cat and he flailed his limbs for a moment before realizing what was going on. Ash held Kuro in his arms and the cat adjusted himself until he was comfortable, although nothing could compare to the comfort of Mahiru’s head. Mahiru smiled are started petting Kuro. Ash wanted to move so he wasn't standing in front of Mahiru, but he couldn't bring himself to stop Mahiru from petting Kuro.

“Um Mahiru… There’s cat fur in your hair.” Koyuki observed.

“Oh, really? Aw man.” Mahiru grumbled.

Mahiru bent over a bit and aggressively rummaged his hands through his hair. Ash could see dark blue fur falling off of Mahiru’s head. When the brunet was satisfied with his work, he stood up straight a bit, but not too much.

“Did I get all of it?” Mahiru asked Ash.

Ash flinched and looked wide eyed at the top of Mahiru’s head. There were a few strands of cat fur left in Mahiru’s hair. He wasn't sure if he should remove the cat hairs himself or not. Kuro felt Ash’s hand twitch underneath him.

“U-um… there's… a few left.” Ash said.

He hoped that was good enough.

“Could you get them for me?” Mahiru requested.

Ash flinched again. That was exactly what he was trying to avoid. He hesitated before nervously reaching a shaky hand out. Ash gently removed the last few remaining strands in Mahiru’s hair. Every time his fingers grazed the brown hair he had to hold himself back even more from freaking out. By the time he was done, Ash felt like he was going to implode.

“Okay… T-that's all of them… S-sorry about that… He, uh, he sheds a lot.” Ash nervously explained.

Mahiru stood up straight and started fixing his hair. “Thanks! And it's no problem. I like cats too much to let shedding bother me.”

So he was a cat person. Ash felt too happy over the revelation that he and Mahiru actually did have something in common. There was so much he wanted to start talking about. About Kuro, about different cat breeds, the best food brands, cat toys, and if Mahiru had any cats. Unfortunately, Ash was stopped before he could say anything by the worst possible thing happening.

“Hey, look at those drunk guys.” Ryusei said and pointed at some people coming out of the bar.

The other three focused their attention on the people Ryusei was pointing at. Upon realizing who they were, Ash immediately wished he was capable of dying. It was All Of Love, Lawless, and World End and they looked absolutely hammered. Love had his coat and scarf off, but it turned out Wor was holding them and trying to tie them around the younger one's waist. Love kept moving around though and Wor was clearly too drunk to know what he was doing. Lawless got down on his hands and knees and started patting at the ground. The only thing Ash could assume that he was doing was looking for his glasses, which were on his head. He could hear Love giggling over something. Ash turned around and hoped they wouldn't spot him.

“Hey Ash, isn’t that your brother from before?” Mahiru questioned, referring to All Of Love.

“You think? Um, I don't know. I can't really tell from here.” Ash lied.

“One of them’s waving at us.” Koyuki noted.

Ash cursed under his breath and looked over his shoulder. Sure enough, World End had finished sloppily tying Love’s clothes around him and was now frantically waving at Ash.

“Heeeey!! Brooo!” Wor shouted.

Ash looked back to the humans and sighed.

“Okay, yeah. That's my brothers.” He reluctantly admitted.

“How many of you are there?” Ryusei questioned.

Ash paused before answering. “...Eight.”

“Eight!?” Mahiru repeated.

“Your parents must have their hands full.” Koyuki assumed.

Ignoring how horrible the mention of parents made Ash feel, he glanced back over to see Love now yelling and waving at him too.

“You have no idea.” Ash commented.

“Why don't you go over and help them? It seems like they want your attention anyway.” Mahiru suggested.

Ash really didn't want to do that.

“Are you sure? They'll be fine. I can… keep waiting with you.” He said, hoping Mahiru wouldn't force him to leave.

“Its okay, really! My uncle should be here in a few minutes anyway. Besides, they're your brothers.” Mahiru reassured him and reached out to pet Kuro one last time.

Ash knew the appropriate thing to do was go help his drunken brothers, but staying with Mahiru even for just a few more minutes was what he really wanted.

“Um… I guess… I'll just… see you again some time then? Maybe?” Ash said nervously.

“Sleepy Aaaa~ash!” Love called out, making Ash tense up.

“Heh. Yeah, sure. I'd like that.” Mahiru said with a smile.

Ash blushed. He couldn't believe Mahiru was actually okay with seeing him again. He certainly didn't think of himself as fun or entertaining to be around. Perhaps Mahiru was just trying to be nice. Still, it made him happy nonetheless.

“M’kay… Um… B-bye then.” Ash muttered.

Without giving Mahiru a chance to reply, Ash ran off to his brothers. Koyuki and Ryusei looked at each other with confused expressions then to Mahiru, who just stared at Ash as he ran away.

Ash stopped in front of All Of Love, who was now sitting on the curb. The blonde had a cigarette in his mouth and he snapped his fingers in front of it to light it. There was a ridiculously goofy smile on his face. Wor stumbled over to Lawless and grabbed his elder brother by the shoulders, turning Lawless to face him.

“What!? Wha da ya want?” Lawless practically shouted.

Wor sort of smacked Lawless in the face, but only because he missed.

“They're on… uuuhh… yer head.” Wor tried to tell him.

The glasses slipped down and landed back in place over Lawless’s eyes. They were a bit crooked so Lawless tried to fix them, but he ended up making them crooked on the other side instead.

“Thanks man. I-I… ugh… I freakin’ _love_ you man! You're- you're- you're- you're-... uuuhh… Oh yeah, you're… cool.” Lawless struggled to say.

World End wrapped his arms around Lawless’s neck and slumped down on him.

“I love you too, man!! I l-l-love our muuusic! I don't ever wanna w-work with someone else… except… you! We'll never have creative differ-diff-di-uh, diffences!!” Wor shouted as loud as he could and sounded like he was going to cry.

Ash just stared at them as the two brothers clung to each other.

“If you two are done bonding, why are you already out? I assumed you guys would be in there for more than… what? An hour and a half? And I can't believe how drunk you guys already are.” Ash questioned.

“We-we got… uh… we got kicked out ‘cause Lo-Love started... stripping!” Lawless announced.

Love giggled and started trying to button up his pink shirt.

“It's not indecent exposure if you're preeetty~ Hehehehehe!” Love tried to justify it and laughed.

Ash sighed and Love scooted closer to him. The drunk blonde latched on to his eldest brother’s leg, which startled Ash and he tried to back up, but Love wouldn't let him go.

“That's the huuuman boy you liiike, isn't it Aaash?” Love said in a teasing manner.

“Ssh. Don't talk about that.” Ash whispered.

“Whaaat!?” Wor yelled.

“Ash likes a h-human!? Which one!? Which one!? The b-brunet you were… t-talkin’ to!?” Lawless shouted and pointed at Mahiru, who thankfully wasn't paying attention.

Kuro jumped out of Ash’s arms and onto his shoulder. His owner grabbed the edge of his hood and tried to pull it over his eyes.

“Shut up! Shut up, shut up, shut up!!” Ash demanded.

“Heeeeey!! My b-brother wants to fu-”

Lawless was interrupted by one of Ash’s coattails wrapping around his head and covering his mouth. He yanked the coattail off of himself and gagged a bit over the taste of fabric that's been dragged on the ground and rarely washed. Wor uncontrollably laughed at the sight.

“Don't. Ever. Say that again.” Ash aggressively warned.

He glanced over his shoulder to see Mahiru and his friends getting into a car. Mahiru stopped for a moment and waved at Ash.

“Ooooh Aaash~ Yooou should go ask him out on a daaaaateee before he leeeeeeaves!” Love suggested and tugged at Ash’s pant leg.

“Date! Date! Date! Date!” Lawless and Wor chanted.

Sleepy Ash froze. It's true that he wasn't sure if he'd see Mahiru again and seeing him today was a coincidence the size of a miracle. Ash really liked Mahiru, enough to get a fuzzy feeling in his stomach every time he saw the brunet smile at least. He hadn't gotten a feeling like that in centuries, or maybe never. He couldn't remember. He looked over to Kuro, who simply meowed and jumped off his shoulder. Kuro hopped onto Love’s lap and the blonde let go of Ash so he could pet Kuro. Without another thought, Ash turned around and ran up to Mahiru before the brunet could fully get into his uncle’s car.

“Hey! Mahiru!” Ash called out.

Mahiru stopped and turned to face Ash, surprised to see him coming back.

“Huh? What is it, Ash? Forget something?” Mahiru wondered.

“Uh… um… d-do you… u-um… Do you wanna… hang out sometime? Or something? I dunno…” Ash struggled to ask, his face starting to turn slightly red.

He was too afraid to use the word ‘date’ in case Mahiru didn't swing that way or simply wasn't interested in him like that. Mahiru stared at Ash for a moment before smiling.

“Sure! Did you have something in mind?” Mahiru replied.

Ash flinched and turned away a bit.

“Uuuh… I-I honestly didn't expect you to agree so I didn't… think about that…” Ash admitted.

Mahiru chuckled and Ash looked at him in confusion.

“Mind if I see your phone for a minute?” Mahiru requested.

Ash immediately fumbled around with his pockets trying to find his phone. He pulled it out if his back pocket and nervously handed it to Mahiru, curious about what he was going to do. Mahiru took the phone and easily found Ash’s contacts. After a moment he handed Ash his phone back.

“There's my number. Just call or text me when you come up with something, okay?” Mahiru advised.

Ash looked from Mahiru to his phone, and back at Mahiru. He honestly couldn't believe that Mahiru just gave Ash his phone number.

“Uh, y-yeah. Okay.” Ash said and nodded his head.

“I gotta go now, though. I'll see you whenever you decide.” Mahiru waved and got into his uncle's car.

The car door shut and the car drove off. Ash didn't move from his spot for a while. He heard a meow by his feet and looked down to see Kuro. The small cat rubbed his head against Ash’s boot and Ash crouched down to pet Kuro on the head. He jumped up onto Ash’s shoulder and laid down. Ash stood up and walked back to his drunk younger brothers. Lawless and World End were now standing and using each other for support. All three looked over to Ash.

“Weeeeell? Aaaare you going on a daaaate with hiiiim?” Love asked.

Ash shook his head. “Not yet, but I got his number.”

“Aaaaaye!!” The three cheered and threw their arms up in the air.

Apparently getting Mahiru’s number was good enough for them. That, or they just wanted an excuse to yell for no reason. Wor stumbled a bit and grabbed Lawless’s scarf so he wouldn't fall. Instead, Lawless got pulled down and choked out a little so they both ended up falling to the pavement. All Of Love stared at them for a second before breaking out into a laughing fit that sounded like Tsubaki. Ash and Kuro simply sighed.

“I'll text Sis to come pick us up.” Ash said.


	2. Sleepy Ash, The Lost Cause

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't believe I got this done four days after posting the first chapter (´･_･`) That's probably a record for me.
> 
> Anyway, I guess spoilers for my other fic, I'm Not A Monster, are present in this chapter. It's only spoilers 'cause I haven't finished that fic yet. But by he end of a romance fic you expect the couple to be together anyway so... It might not be an important spoiler. I guess?
> 
> Well, enjoy.

Ash laid on his bed and stared at his phone lying next to him. He stared at it all night and into the next morning. He couldn't stop thinking of what to text Mahiru to the point that he didn't sleep. Not that that bothered Ash, since he rarely slept anyway. Kuro jumped on his bed and sat in front of his face. Ash didn't pay attention to the cat, only focusing on his phone. Kuro looked irritated and meowed at Ash. His owner still ignored him so Kuro reached a paw out and pressed it on Ash’s face. Still nothing. Kuro put a paw over Ash’s eye. Still nothing. Either Ash was just really good at ignoring Kuro, or his owner had finally gone catatonic. Getting fed up, Kuro hissed and scratched Ash across the face. Ash only blinked and one of his coattails lifted up to wipe away some blood that was close to getting in his eye. Kuro sighed and his ears drooped down as a sign of defeat. The cat simply watched as the deep scratches on Ash’s face quickly healed up and disappeared like they never happened.

Suddenly, Ash sat up and got out of bed. Kuro was glad to finally see his owner up and moving, but was curious about what Ash would do. Ash picked up his phone, checked the time, and put it in his pocket. He wiped away the small amount of blood that was on his face from Kuro’s attack, which stained the sleeve of his jacket a bright red. Kuro walked to the edge of the bed and meowed at Ash.

“It's dinner time. I didn't realize how long I was laying in bed. Sorry Kuro, you're probably hungry huh?” Ash said as he stretched his arms outward.

Kuro happily meowed and his tail quickly flicked side to side. He jumped down onto the floor, although it was more of a drop rather than a jump. Ash opened his bedroom door and left his room with Kuro following right beside him. As he closed the door, he noticed All Of Love’s bedroom door was open. Deciding not to worry about it, Ash made his way downstairs and across the hall to the main room.

On the living room side, Ash saw Lawless laying on the middle couch with his glasses placed on the coffee table. Old Child was sitting on one of the side couches and watching television. On the kitchen side of the main room, The Mother was standing at the stove and Tsubaki was carrying a pot over to the dining table. World End was already sitting at the table, but he had his head resting on it. He didn't see Doubt Doubt or All Of Love anywhere. The Mother looked over to see who entered the room and seemed pleasantly surprised to see Ash.

“Well, look who’s early to dinner for once.” The Mother said.

Old Child looked over and upon seeing Ash, his face lit up. He hopped off the couch and ran up to his big brother.

“Aaaash!! You're up! Yay!” The boy cheered as he hugged Ash’s leg.

Lawless and World End groaned and the blonde rolled over on the couch.

“Please… not so loud…” Lawless grumbled.

The Mother sighed and Tsubaki snickered at his elder brothers’ pain.

“Hey kiddo.” Ash said and crouched down to ruffle Old Child’s hair.

Tsubaki placed down the pot at the table and quickly went back to the kitchen to grab the second pot sitting on the stove. He carried it over to the table, placed it down, and took his seat at the right end of the table. The Mother finished cleaning up in the kitchen and took her seat on one side of the table all the way to the left, across from World End.

“Lawless, come sit at the table.” She ordered.

Lawless groaned, but complied with his sister’s orders and sat up. He put his glasses on and trudged to the dining table, sitting next to his sister like usual.

“That means you two, too.” The Mother said to Ash and Old Child.

With a smile, Old Child sat down in the seat next to Lawless, which always had a small stack of books for him to sit on. Ash stood up and walked into the kitchen to grab a can of cat food from one of the cabinets. Upon seeing the can, Kuro’s tail started wagging. Ash walked over to the side of the kitchen island where Kuro’s food bowl was and opened the can, dumping the cat food into the bowl. Before all of it was even in the bowl, Kuro started happily digging in.

“There ya go little buddy.” Ash said and pet Kuro on the head.

He stood up, threw the empty can in the trash, and finally sat down at the left end of the table. Tsubaki reached a hand out to grab one of the pots so he could start putting food on his plate.

“Old Child, smack Tsubaki’s hand for me.” The Mother calmly demanded.

Old Child gleefully picked up the spoon laying next to his plate and smacked Tsubaki’s hand as hard as he could with it.

“Ow! That was uncalled for!” Tsubaki yelped and yanked his hand back.

Lawless and Wor groaned over Tsubaki’s loudness.

“Not all of us are here yet. We're still missing Love and Doubt.” The Mother noted.

“Oh yeah. They're always on time.” Ash noted.

As if on cue, Doubt walked into the main room. It took everyone a second to realize he was carrying Love piggyback style.

“Sorry we're late… It took a while to get him up.” Doubt muttered, suddenly feeling embarrassed that everyone was looking at them.

Tsubaki and Old Child snickered at the sight before them. Love was still in his pajamas and his usually well kept hair was quite messy. He didn't have his earrings in either. His arms were draped over Doubt’s shoulders and loosely wrapped around his neck. Doubt walked over to the two empty seats at the table and Love dropped down to the floor. The blonde was about to sit down, but instead hugged Doubt.

“Thank you, Doubt.” Love grumbled.

Doubt tensed up and froze at the contact from his younger brother. He didn't mind, especially since it was All Of Love, but he couldn't help but feel uncomfortable anyway. All he could think to do was awkwardly pat Love on the back and try to step away. Love let go of him and plopped down in the seat next to Wor. Doubt sat next to him.

“Okay, they're here! Can I eat now!?” Tsubaki frantically asked.

“Yes, Tsubaki. You can eat.” The Mother said.

Tsubaki giggled the whole time he was putting food on his plate and Old Child and Ash joined in on getting food, followed by everyone else except World End.

“I think Hell froze over.” Ash stated.

“What makes you say that?” Old Child asked.

“Because I came to dinner early, Love is being the lazy one, and I think Wor isn't eating ‘cause he's dead.” Ash explained and eyed the third youngest, who still had his head down.

Wor lifted his head a bit and looked at Ash, but put his head back down without a word. The Mother reached across the table to pick up his plate and started putting food on it.

“Ehehe… Yeah, sorry I didn't help with dinner today. I slept in so late and I just didn't feel like I could get up.” Love apologized.

“It’s fine. Turns out Tsubaki’s actually a pretty good helper.” The Mother said.

Tsubaki laughed for a moment, but then abruptly stopped. “It's a lot more boring than I thought it'd be…” He grumbled.

The Mother placed the full plate in front of World End, hoping that actually having food in front of him would make him feel better. He lifted his head up again and picked up his fork to start eating. Unlike usual, he was very slow about it and only took small bites. Lawless was doing the same, but Love wasn't. Clearly his hangover wasn't as bad as the elder two’s were. Dinner was quiet for a few minutes as everyone ate. Kuro finished the food in his bowl so he walked over to Ash’s chair and laid down underneath it.

“You text that human back about that date yet, Ash?” Lawless asked, knowing full well what he just started.

Ash dropped his fork on his plate, which made a loud sound that echoed throughout the now dead silent room. Everyone stopped eating except World End. Old Child and Tsubaki stared wide eyed at Ash from across the table. Sleepy Ash looked at Lawless with a death glare while Lawless had the faintest hint of a smug expression on his face.

“Hahahahahaha- Ack!!” Tsubaki laughed loudly, but started choking on his food and began coughing instead.

“What is he talking about? Ash, what is talking about?” Old Child questioned, but tried and failed to hide how confused he was.

Doubt stopped caring and went back to eating. So did The Mother, but she was simply pretending that she wasn't disappointed. Ash didn't want to explain anything, in fact he really wanted to die right then and there, but he just sighed and gathered the courage to explain things.

“I… met a human awhile ago and… saw him again yesterday, so… I asked him out. He gave me his number… and I can't think of a place for us to go…” Ash nervously told everyone and looked away from his siblings.

Tsubaki began laughing again, which annoyed Doubt since he was sitting so close to the younger male.

“Haha! Ash is- Ash is interested in a- haha! In a human!! Aaahaha!!” Tsubaki shouted and pointed a finger at Ash.

Ash scowled at Tsubaki and dropped his head down. “What's so funny about it? Aren't you in a relationship with a human anyway?”

“Beru is _not_ like other lowly humans! He's special! And it's funny because you're the cat obsessed guy that stays in his room all day and plays video games! There's nothing appealing about that! Haha!” Tsubaki exclaimed.

Old Child picked up his spoon again and threw it at Tsubaki, hitting him in the head. He yelped in pain and rubbed his sore head. He looked over to see the kid glaring at him, making Tsubaki flinch out of fear.

“Oh ignore him, Ash. There's plenty of nice things about you.” Love said, trying to defend Ash and make him feel better.

The eldest didn't believe that so he slouched down in his chair and put his hands in his pockets. Kuro walked out from under Ash’s chair and jumped up to sit in his owner’s lap, hoping his presence would help Ash.

“Alright, listen. Let's drop the subject and just finish dinner. And no more throwing spoons.” The Mother ordered and eyed Old Child.

Everyone became quiet and dinner went back to normal, except Ash didn't keep eating. Tsubaki finished first so he picked up his plate and silverware and brought it to the sink. He dropped it all in and left the room, heading upstairs. Everyone else finished eating around the same time. The Mother took Wor and Lawless’s dirty dishes for them and placed them in the sink while Doubt Doubt did the same for himself, Love, and Old Child.

“Ash, it's your turn to do the dishes.” The Mother said.

Ash looked up with a confused expression on his face. “Uh, no. It's Tsubaki’s turn.”

“You know how rotation works, Ash. Tsubaki helped with dinner so he doesn't have to do dishes. That makes it your turn.” She explained.

“Ugh, can't deal… Fine.” Ash grumbled.

Lawless and Wor trudged out of the main room together and left in the direction of the den.

“Doubt, can you carry me to my room please?” Love asked and held his arms out.

As Doubt walked back to the table, he sighed and nodded his head. Love stood up and Doubt turned around. The blonde jumped up on his brother’s back and Doubt caught his legs. The elder was glad his face wasn't visible otherwise he'd be even more embarrassed than he already was. As the two left the room, Old Child jumped down from his chair. Ash thought it was odd that the boy just left without a word. Usually he would ask Ash if they could do something together, but now he didn't even bother to look in Ash’s direction. Sleepy Ash didn't mind that his younger brother wasn't begging for his attention, but it just wasn't normal to him.

“Ash-”

“I know, dishes, I know. Geez.” Ash interrupted his sister as he scooted his chair back.

“That's not what I was going to say.” The Mother corrected.

As Ash stood up, Kuro climbed his jacket to perch on his shoulder. Ash picked up his half empty plate and walked over to the sink.

“Then lemme guess. Don't go out with a human ‘cause you'll only get attached then hurt when they die.” Ash said, not really trying to be mean but he just wanted his sister to know he didn't want to hear it.

The Mother simply looked at Ash with a straight face. She sighed and walked out of the main room towards the den. Kuro meowed at Ash, making the hooded man groan.

“Okay, yeah. Maybe that was a little much, but I don't get why everyone’s giving me so much crap about this.” Ash muttered.

He placed down his plate next to the sink and Kuro hopped off Ash’s shoulder to land on the counter. Knowing Ash was more than fine with it, Kuro started eating the leftover food on Ash’s plate.

“I don't see what the big deal is. Tsubaki and Lawless have boyfriends and Sis was married a long time ago. Why is everyone complaining about me then?” Ash talked more to himself than Kuro.

He rolled up his sleeves and turned on the sink faucet. He started washing the first plate, making sure it was good enough that his sister wouldn't complain that he did a sloppy job. When he was done with it he placed it off to the side so he could dry all the dishes off when he was finished.

“Need some help?”

Ash flinched and almost dropped the plate he was holding. He looked over his shoulder to see Doubt Doubt standing there, almost looming over him. Ash let out a sigh.

“Yeah. That'd be great. Thanks.” The elder brother said.

Doubt rolled up his own sleeves and grabbed a washcloth to start drying off the clean plates. It was quiet between the two for only a few minutes.

“...Tsubaki was a bit right, you know... You spend all day and night in your room, you rarely come out except to eat, and you don't interact with others that much... It's just... unexpected that a guy like… you... would find someone.” Doubt said.

Ash sighed again and handed some clean silverware to Doubt.

“I mean, you're not wrong. It's not like I ever imagined I'd get involved in romance, let alone actually come across someone I was interested in. It just… happened.” Ash replied.

“Who is this human?” The taller asked as he put the silverware away in their appropriate drawer.

Ash thought it was odd that Doubt was even remotely interested in the subject of Ash’s potential love life. Maybe his younger brother was spending too much time around All Of Love and Old Child.

“His name is Mahiru Shirota. I met him when I went out with Sis and Love a while ago. Then I saw him yesterday at the arcade. He really likes Kuro and I guess cats in general. He's… Ah, he's really cute. His smile is just- just perfect. I get that butterfly feeling in my gut whenever I'm near him and it makes me wanna die, but like, in a good way, ya know?” Ash explained.

Doubt simply nodded. He couldn't exactly understand what Ash was referring to since he'd never felt like that himself, but Ash did sound a bit cheerful while talking about Mahiru so Doubt took that as a good thing. The two fell silent again as Ash took the now empty plate from Kuro and began washing it. Ash paused for a moment and just held the plate under the faucet.

“Do you have any humans you get along with?” Ash wondered.

Doubt thought for a moment if he even had an answer to that question.

“I… wouldn't say ‘get along’, but… there's this human that owns the supply store I go to. He’s weird, but we have interesting conversations.” Doubt responded.

“Does he know?” The older asked.

Knowing what Ash was referring to, Doubt just shrugged. “I don't know… Sometimes he says things to me that make me think he does… but he's never outright said it… I guess if he does know… it doesn't bother him.”

Doubt stepped away to get the pots still sitting on the dining table. He brought them back and set them on the counter. There was still a small amount of food left in them.

“Do you think Wor’ll eat the rest of that later?” Ash questioned.

Because of how much World End ate on a regular basis, leftovers were a rare sight in the house. Neither Ash nor Doubt knew what to do about it. Kuro stood up on the counter and started meowing at the two brothers. They looked over at the small cat.

“You sure, Kuro? You've eaten a lot already. I just don't want ya getting sick.” Ash said.

Kuro meowed even louder. Ash turned to Doubt and the younger brother nodded, letting Ash know that he was fine with it. Ash got a plastic container from one of the cabinets and used a spoon in the sink to scoop the leftovers out of the pots. He put the food in the container and placed it on the counter in front of Kuro. The happy furball began eating the leftovers. Ash went back to washing the dishes and Doubt went back to drying off and putting away the clean ones.

“You don't happen to know a good date location around town, do you?” Ash half joked as he handed a newly clean plate to Doubt.

“Maybe.” Doubt replied.

Ash froze and stared at Doubt Doubt. “Wait, really?”

Doubt shrugged and put the dried off plate in the cabinet. “Sometimes All Of Love drags me out of the house and we go to the park… It's calm there so I don't mind it… I see a lot of couples there.”

Ash realized what park Doubt was referring to. It was actually just a forest that had one main road in the middle of it to go to or from the main city into the small town. The forest had a lot of safe trails and nature paths to walk down so it was a common spot for the outdoorsy type to hang out at. Ash thought that since Mahiru didn't care much for video games, maybe he'd prefer something on the other end of the spectrum. Ash himself didn't actually like the idea of going to the park. It was a bit further away than just ‘across town’ and once he got there he'd have to do even more walking. He really didn't care for the outdoors, but if Mahiru agreed to it then he'd be more than willing to put up with it.

“That actually sounds like a good idea… I hate when you say smart things.” Ash said.

“So does everyone else.” Doubt stated.

The two brothers got back to focusing on the dishes. Ash scrubbed out the pots and handed them to Doubt who dried them off. Kuro finished the leftovers in the container so Ash washed it off. Ash finally handed the last clean dish to Doubt and turned off the faucet.

“Thanks again for helping. You didn't help just so you get out of doing dishes tomorrow, did you?” The elder wondered.

Doubt shook his head as he put the last plate in the cabinet. “Just helping to be helpful.”

Ash stared at his younger brother. Even after spending five centuries in their house together Ash still couldn't understand a single thing about Doubt. There were plenty of times where Ash questioned if they really were related, then again he questioned that about all his siblings. But he and Doubt had very different lives growing up from what he knew, so it was understandable that they'd be different personality wise. All eight of them had drastically different early lives. Except maybe Ash and Old Child since they did grow up together.

“Is it… unexpected of me… to help…?” Doubt wondered, a hint of concern in his voice.

Ash realized he was staring for too long. “Huh? Oh, uh… I don't think so. You just don't participate in much stuff is all.”

“Neither do you.” Doubt replied.

Ash let out a forced chuckle. “Yeah, if it's not me, it's you. If it's not you, it's me.

Doubt nodded and it was quiet again. He rolled his sleeves back down so they more than covered his hands and left the washcloth on the counter. Ash also unrolled his sleeves and dried off his hands.

“So, uh… Guess I'll just go back to my room then.” Ash muttered.

Doubt nodded and started to walk away. If Ash wasn't looking he wouldn't believe Doubt was actually walking away. It was like the man had no footsteps. Or like he floated instead of walked. Considering how long his coat thing was it wasn't that easy to tell. Now alone in the main room, Ash sighed.

“Mreow.”

Ash turned around to see Kuro standing close to the edge of the counter. The cat wanted to jump off, but something was stopping him. Ash picked up Kuro and held the cat up.

“Oh yeah, you definitely ate too much today.” Ash noted.

Kuro let out a very tired meow.

“Maybe taking you to the park would be a good idea. You can walk off all that food.” Ash suggested.

Kuro meowed again, which sounded close to a groan. Ash held the well-fed cat in his arms and left the main room to head upstairs. He entered his room and walked around his bed to place Kuro down in his own little cat bed. Kuro sighed and sprawled out in his bed. Ash sat down on his bed and pulled his phone out of his pocket. Sleepy Ash looked at the screen of his phone for a long while. Since he had a good location in mind it would be a good time to text Mahiru, but Ash couldn't bring himself to do that just yet. He pulled up Mahiru’s contact and stared at it. There was no picture yet so it didn't feel real that he would actually be talking to Mahiru. He hoped that would be enough to get himself to at least write a text. Ash started typing the first words that came to his mind.

_‘hey mahiru its ash. u wanna go 2 the park 2moro at like 3ish’_

Ash groaned. He couldn't send that. It sounded too casual. He still wasn't exactly friends with Mahiru and he wanted to give off a good impression to Mahiru. He deleted it and tried again.

_‘Hello Mahiru. This is Sleepy Ash. Would you like to join me at the park tomorrow around three o’clock?’_

Ash lazily smacked his phone against his forehead. That was way too formal and didn't sound anything like Ash. Mahiru probably wouldn't even believe it was him. He deleted that one too and started over.

_‘Hey Mahiru. It's Ash. I finally came up with something. Are you cool with hanging out at the park tomorrow? Maybe at 3 if that works for you.’_

Ash liked that one. It was just passive and casual enough that it sounded like Ash but was also written in a way that he felt Mahiru would think positively of him. Satisfied with the text, Ash now had another problem. Gathering enough courage to send it. All he had to do was press one button and yet it felt so impossible to him. Knowing he had to do it now or he'll never do it at all, Ash took a deep breath and exhaled. Granted, he didn't need to breathe, but doing it was working as far as calming his nerves went. He placed his phone down in his lap and closed his eyes. Taking one last breath of air and exhaling, Ash opened his eyes and quickly pressed the send button. Not even giving himself a moment to feel proud of overcoming the intense anxiety, Ash fell on his side and shoved his face into his blanket. Knowing it would muffle him just fine, Ash screamed into the blanket. Kuro lifted his head up at the sound, but otherwise Ash went completely unheard.

“Can't deal! Can't deal, can't deal, can't deal! What if he doesn't wanna go to the park? What if he's busy tomorrow? Or busy at exactly three? What if he gave me a fake number? What if he changed his mind from yesterday and doesn't want anything to do with me!? What if-”

Ash’s muffled rant was cut off by the vibration of his phone against his leg. He sat up and nervously looked at his phone. He didn't expect Mahiru to answer so quickly, or even at all. He reached a shaky hand out to his phone and picked it up. Whatever Mahiru texted back would decide a lot to Ash. Probably a lot more than a simple text should. Ash looked down at his phone screen and tried to brace himself for whatever it said.

_‘Sure, totally! I love going to the park! Can I ask that you bring Kuro too?’_

Ash wanted to scream again. He wanted to scream at the top of his lungs and let it all out. He wasn't upset, but he had too much built up anxiety that he couldn't feel overjoyed like he wanted too. Knowing that he basically got a yes from Mahiru eased all his initial concerns, but all that anxiety was still inside him and he had to get it out. He leaned back down to his blanket and screamed into it again. This time it ended up turning into a laugh. Ash wasn't one for laughing, but it was simply an involuntary reaction. A small part of him was still in disbelief that Mahiru, let alone anyone, would willingly want to spend time with him. It still confused him as to why Old Child practically clinged to him half the time. Ash’s laughter died down and stopped. He finally got it all out and grabbed his phone again to respond to Mahiru.

_‘Yeah, I can bring Kuro. I'll see you tomorrow then.’_

_‘Okay!’_

Ash rolled over on his bed and held his phone close to his chest. The plans were made and there was no more chances to back out without risking the possibility of hurting Mahiru. He had to go to the park tomorrow no matter what.

“Hey, Kuro.” Ash whispered.

“Mrrrrreoww…”

“You gotta come with me tomorrow. Mahiru wants you to come.” Ash told his cat.

“Mmmmroooow…”

“I know, it sucks but… Whatever it takes to make him happy.” Ash mumbled.

He sat up and got off his bed. It wasn't even night out and yet Ash decided it was best to go to sleep. He hadn't slept at all since the day before and even then it was only for a few hours. Sleeping wouldn't do much for him, but it was important that he got as much rest as possible for tomorrow. If he could help it he wanted to be as least tired as possible. Ash took off his jacket, boots, and pants and got back in bed. He didn't care how long it took, he would get at least some sleep before three o’clock tomorrow.

Mahiru sat in his classroom and stared out the window. It wasn't like him to not pay attention in class, but he simply felt too distracted to focus. He was too excited over seeing Kuro again, and Sleepy Ash of course.

“Mahiru! Mahiru!!” The teacher called out.

Mahiru finally realized the teacher was calling his name. “Huh? Um, sorry. What?”

“Answer the question please. How many years ago was Ashford founded?” She asked, clearly sounding annoyed.

Mahiru had to think about that for a few moments. “Oh, um… Five hundred… ninety-nine… right?”

“Yes. At least you knew the answer, now pay more attention. I expect better from you than most other students in this class.” She said and eyed Sakuya, who was sitting behind Mahiru.

Sakuya just snickered and looked away from their teacher.

“Now I know we only have a few minutes left, but let me finish this last passage before you all pack up. ‘Five hundred and ninety-nine years ago, the town of Ashford was first settled on this island by British immigrants. One man originally came to this island because of the numerous rumored sightings of so-called supernatural creatures. He set up camp in the same forest that is now known as Ashford Park. All by himself he camped out in the forest for months. He wrote many reports on the creatures he saw, ranging from fairies to werewolves and everything in between. He sent these reports back to his home and eventually like minded people traveled here to our island to see these creatures themselves. That started the settling of Ashford. The people in the town decided their first mayor would also be their founder. His name was-’”

The teacher was interrupted by the sound of the bell. She groaned and put down the textbook she was holding. All the students quickly shoveled their books and homework into their bags and started to leave.

“Ah! Please finish reading the passage and answering the worksheet questions tonight students!” The teacher told her students while she still slightly had their attention.

“Alright, well, I'm not doing homework.” Ryusei muttered as he walked out of the classroom with his friends.

“But Ryu! You'll get a bad grade if you don't!” Koyuki argued.

“I am way too uninterested in the stupidity of our town history to allow my IQ to lower from reading that ridiculousness.” Ryusei replied.

Sakuya slung an arm around Ryusei’s shoulders and pulled him close. “Hey man! What's so stupid about founding a town for the sake of supernatural research?”

“Oh no, here we go again.” Mahiru whispered to Koyuki.

“You don't believe there's monsters hiding all around this town!? It's been in the town history for almost six centuries! You can't deny evidence when it's that plentiful. Who knows, there may be werewolves masquerading as students in this very school! The guy you walked past last week when no one else was around? Ghost! That weird feeling that woke you up in the middle of the night? Demon trying to steal your soul! The employee at the convenience store who you swear makes you pay more than your purchases are actually worth? That's a kitsune!” Sakuya ranted.

Ryusei simply glared at him.

“Alright Sakuya, stop it. You're scaring Koyuki.” Mahiru demanded.

Sakuya and Ryusei looked over to see Koyuki clinging to Mahiru’s arm and shaking like a leaf.

“Hey, sorry if the truth is difficult to accept. At least one of us has his eyes open.” Sakuya remarked.

“I think you're the one that's finding the truth difficult to accept.” Ryusei grumbled.

“Okay, drop it. Both of you. School’s over so no one needs to talk about it anymore. You're okay, Koyuki. It's just Sakuya and his usual crazy talk.” Mahiru said and tried to calm his friend down.

Koyuki nodded and let go of Mahiru’s arm. Sakuya and Ryusei became silent as the group walked out of the school building.

“So… it's Ryu’s turn to pick where we go for our after school hang out time.” Koyuki stated.

“How about lunch?” Ryusei suggested.

“It's always lunch with you.” Sakuya said.

“And it’s always the arcade with you.” Ryusei replied.

“Its okay! Lunch works just fine, right Mahiru?” Koyuki turned to Mahiru.

“Um, yeah. Sure… but, I can't go today.” Mahiru responded.

His three friends looked at Mahiru with surprise. Mahiru was never the one to bail on their after school hang out time.

“Well what the hell is so important that ya gotta abandon us?” Sakuya questioned, trying not to sound hurt.

“I'm not abandoning you guys, geez. It's just that… I made plans with Ash last night and I don't want to run the risk of being late. I'd like to go home and change anyway.” Mahiru answered.

Koyuki was pleasantly surprised, Ryusei was a bit confused, and Sakuya turned away from Mahiru.

“He got back to you already?” Koyuki asked.

“Yeah. He wants to go to the park at three.” Mahiru explained.

“Why don't we all go then?” Ryusei suggested.

“That wouldn't feel right. He's only expecting me and he's sort of a shy guy so having three other people pop up might not be best.” Mahiru refused.

“Oh well. As long as Mahiru isn't going to be alone then it's okay, right? There's no problem with it being us three.” Koyuki said to Ryusei and Sakuya.

“I don't feel like eating right now.” Sakuya said.

He abruptly walked away from his friends and down the street to head home. He left his three friends bewildered at his rude behavior. Koyuki looked a bit hurt.

“Geez, what is up with him lately? It's starting to piss me off.” Ryusei grumbled.

“It’s okay, Ryu. It can just be the two of us for lunch.” Koyuki said in a soft voice and put on a fake smile.

“W-wait! You… and me… alone… having lunch… together… alone!” Ryusei stared at the ground in an attempt to hide the blush forming on his face, but couldn't hide the fact that his voice was cracking as he nervously spoke.

“Yes, alone. Together.” Koyuki repeated and grabbed Ryusei’s sleeve.

Mahiru chuckled slightly at his friends and pat Koyuki on the back. “You two go have fun with lunch. I'll see you guys tomorrow.”

“Okay, Mahiru. Be sure to tell us how today at the park goes.” Koyuki said as he began walking off with Ryusei.

“You got it!” Mahiru waved as he watched his friends leave.

He turned around and headed in the direction of his apartment. While walking he pulled out his phone to check the time. It was almost one o’clock. He didn't live too far from the park, so he was more than good on time, but he wanted to go ahead and get ready so he wouldn't end up rushing himself later.

At the Ash household, a knock on Sleepy Ash’s bedroom door woke him up. He turned over in bed and tried to ignore it. Whoever it was knocked again and Ash rubbed his eyes.

“Sleepy Ash! Are you awake? I know you're in there!” By the high pitch voice Ash could tell who it was.

He laid still for a while and almost fell back asleep. He actually would've fallen asleep again if his door didn't burst open. The sound startled Kuro awake.

“Ash! Get up!” Old Child shouted at him.

Ash shoved his face in his pillow and groaned. He would've been pissed if both him and Old Child didn't know that the only one that had permission to enter his bedroom was Old Child himself. The second eldest walked up to Ash’s bed and yanked on his blanket. Ash held onto it so Old Child was essentially stuck while pulling on it.

“Ugh, what the hell do you want?” Ash grumbled.

“Aaash! I wanna go to the hot springs with you today!” Old Child shouted and yanked harder on the blanket.

Ash groaned and released the blanket. His little brother fell back and dragged the blanket halfway off the bed with him. He sat up and rubbed his hurt head.

“I can't. I got plans.” Ash replied.

Old Child continued to sit on the floor and stared down at the messy carpet.

“You always have plans now. It's not like you.” Old Child mumbled.

“Yeah well, this isn't like you either.” Ash responded.

“Because you've never had a reason to say no…”

“I know. Look, just because I'm doing stuff without you now doesn't mean it's gonna stay like that. I just happened to find stuff to do lately. Next time we'll do something together, okay?”

Old Child remained silent and Ash groaned. He just woke up so he didn't want to be bothered, but looking at his little brother sitting on the floor and moping wasn't a pretty sight to him. Ash got out of bed and trudged over to Old Child. He crouched down in front of the young boy and ruffled his hair.

“Seriously, I mean it Child. Next time. We could go to the hot springs or do something here, or whatever you want.” Ash promised.

Old Child looked up at Ash with big red eyes.

“Really?”

“Really.”

Old Child smiled and stood up.

“I gotta get dressed though, sooo…” Ash eyed the door to his room.

“I know, I know.” Old Child muttered.

The younger brother walked towards the door and Ash stood up. He walked behind Old Child so he could close the door, but Old Child stopped in the door frame.

“Are your plans with this human you met?” The younger questioned.

“Um, yeah.” Ash admitted.

Without a word, Old Child walked across the hall and went into his own bedroom. Ash wasn't able to see his brother’s face, so he had no idea what Old Child might've been thinking. Hoping everything was okay, Ash shut his bedroom door. He turned around to see Kuro sitting down in front of his feet.

“I wonder if you have any siblings. Cats are born in litters so you probably do. Do you miss them?” Ash asked.

Kuro meowed at him, but he had no way of knowing what that meant. Ash just sighed and grabbed his white pants from the floor to put them on. Kuro curled up into a ball as he waited for Ash to get dressed. His owner put on his jacket as well and slipped on his boots. Ash shook his hands through his hair to get rid of any knots and flattened it out before pulling his hood up. He found his phone on his bed and checked the time. It was just a bit past one. Putting his phone in his jacket pocket, Ash headed for the door.

“C’mon, Kuro.” Ash called out as he walked out of his room.

Kuro got up and jumped up to catch Ash’s leg. He climbed up to Ash’s shoulder and hung on as Ash shut his door and walked down the stairs. Instead of leaving right away, Ash entered the main room. He walked to the fridge and opened it to grab a soda so he could drink it on the way to the park.

“What are you doing?”

Ash turned around to see The Mother looking at him from the middle couch. He also spotted Lawless who was laying on one of the side couches and texting on his phone.

“Oh, uh, getting a drink before I leave.” Ash responded.

“Leave? Where the hell ya goin’?” Lawless asked as he put his phone down.

“To the park to meet Mahiru. Why do you guys care?” The eldest questioned.

The Mother stood up from the couch and walked over to Ash.

“Okay, I'm not going to stop you from meeting him, but I can't let you walk out of the house like… that.” The Mother said and looked at her brother from top to bottom.

Ash looked down at his body. “Uuuhh… Like what?”

“Just by looking at you I can see blood on your sleeve and one of your coattails. In fact, there is dirt all over those things. I don't think those pants are even white anymore. There is cat fur just everywhere on you. You look like you rolled out of bed two seconds ago, which I'm sure is true knowing you. That would also mean you haven't showered in… well let's just pretend someone already said the answer to that because I don't want to know the real number.” The Mother answered.

Ash stared at her for a moment. “...Oh…”

Lawless started laughing. “Dude! She just tore into you like a rotten piece of meat! Hahaha!”

“Let me add on to that actually. Do you have any clean clothes in your closet? Because you wear the same thing everyday and that's not sanitary, Ash. While I'm on that subject, when was the last time you cleaned your room? Do I have to go up there and throw everything you own out? It's got to be a war zone up there.” She added.

Ash dropped his head and blushed out of pure embarrassment.

“Listen, you can't go out and meet someone you want to impress when you can barely manage to take care of yourself.” The Mother continued.

“Okay! I get it. I'm a mess… I can't do anything for myself and I have lower standards than a sewer rat…You can stop acting like my mom now.” Ash blurted out.

Lawless suddenly didn't find it funny anymore. The Mother sighed and took the soda out of Ash’s hand.

“Alright, here's the deal. Go find some clean clothes to wear and take a shower. I'm not letting you leave the house until you do at least that.” She said.

Ash was quiet and just nodded his head.

“Oh, hey! You should wear that sixty-nine shirt of yours! That'll send him a subliminal message.” Lawless suggested.

Ash glared at Lawless. “It says ninety-six, and that is not the kind of message I want to send the first time we hang out.”

“Just a suggestion.” Lawless stated and shrugged.

The Mother turned to Lawless. “You, shush.” She looked at Ash. “And you, upstairs.”

Both of her brothers groaned and Ash left the main room to go back up to his bedroom. Inside his room, Ash took a look around. His carpet had a lot of loose parts pulled up from Kuro digging his nails into it. There were also stains all over it. Most of it was from spilled drinks while a few were from blood. Dirty clothes were thrown around on the floor, his desk, and spilling out of his half open closet. The desk was its own special mess. All sorts of random and pointless stuff was messily stacked on top. Mainly his games and handheld systems, but there were a couple of books too, and lots of loose change. There was a mirror on top leaning against the wall. It was pretty badly cracked and a few tiny shard of glass were probably somewhere on the desk. His ceiling was a five century long story on how it got so many holes and strange marks on it, mostly above his bed. Then there was the bed. His blanket was halfway on the floor and nothing had been washed or cleaned in probably months. It finally dawned on Ash that he had been living in that mess. He sighed and just walked over to his closet. He fully opened the doors and he bent down to push aside the dirty clothes on the floor. Kuro jumped down to sit on the floor. As Ash was moving the pile, something scurried out from under it. A tiny silverfish. Ash flinched and quickly backed away.

“Oh crap! Crap, crap, crap!” He shouted.

Kuro jumped on it and, without hesitation, the cat ate it. He happily wagged his tail and looked up at Ash. Ash let out a sigh of relief and glanced from Kuro to the pile of clothes.

“I don't know whether to be thankful or disgusted.” He muttered as he awkwardly pet Kuro on the head.

He continued to scoot the pile away with his foot and Kuro kept a keen eye out for anything else he could eat. Ash quickly grabbed whatever clean stuff he could find and backed away from the closet. He'd have to quarantine the right side of his room now. Ash left his room and Kuro followed him as he walked down the hall to the bathroom.

Mahiru entered his apartment and put his bag down on the couch.

“Uncle! I'm home!” Mahiru announced.

It was silent for a moment as Mahiru waited for a response. Once he realized he wasn't getting one, Mahiru sighed and sat down on the couch. He checked his phone for the time again. It was one-thirty. He decided to spend the next half hour doing his homework so he took his history textbook out of his bag and found the worksheet he needed to finish. He read the chapter for awhile and easily filled out the worksheet. While he didn't necessarily believe everything that was written in the textbook, he realized that the belief in the supernatural was important to the town’s history. He did find some of it interesting though. Satisfied with his finished homework, Mahiru put it away and took his bag with him to his room. It was a good time to start getting ready so he grabbed some clothes from his closet so he could change out of his uniform.

Ash sat on a stool in the bathroom, fully dressed with Kuro on his lap. He was roughly drying Kuro off with a towel as the cat looked clearly irritated.

“Mrrroow…”

“Yeah, yeah I know. Just deal with it. If I have to get clean then so do you. Geez, your fur is thick.” Ash grumbled.

He finished drying Kuro and grabbed the cat's red collar off of the sink counter. He put it around Kuro’s neck and fastened it so it fit properly. Kuro shook, which caused the bell of his collar to jingle like crazy. His fur fluffed up and he jumped off Ash’s lap.

“Don’t you feel better? I hate to admit it, but I know I do.” Ash said.

Kuro meowed and sat near the door. Ash couldn't figure out what Kuro’s answer was, so he just left it at that and walked out of the bathroom, his other clothes folded into a ball in his hands. He passed his bedroom and opened the door to toss his clothes on his bed, then shut the door and walked down the stairs. He entered the main room and approached his sister and brother. They turned to look at him. From their expressions, Ash couldn't tell if he did a good job or was just a lost cause. The Mother stood up to get a better look at him.

Ash wore his black jacket that had cat ears as part of the hood. There was a white trim around the edge of the jacket. He wore the red, almost pink colored, shirt with ninety-six on it that Lawless mentioned earlier. He had on normal blue jeans and his usual black boots. His light blue hair had been thoroughly washed and brushed through so it was straight and flat like it was meant to be.

“Well, well, Ash. I must say, you almost look normal.” She said, the tone of her voice told Ash that was a compliment.

Lawless stood up too and gave Ash a thumbs up. “Dude! You actually clean up nicely! But, uh, do you have any jackets that don't have cat ears?”

“No, they all do.” Ash replied.

Lawless sighed. The Mother suddenly grabbed Ash by the face and pulled him close to her. He groaned about it, but let it happen anyway. The Mother stared intensely at her elder brother’s face, which made Ash a bit nervous.

“Is there anything that can be done about those circles under your eyes?” She wondered.

“No, that's just apart of my face now. They've been there since I was, like… thirteen I think.” Ash answered.

“You could put makeup on him.” Lawless suggested.

The Mother looked like she was actually considering that, making Ash pull away from his sister.

“Please don't do that. Please… Its a part of my character.” Ash begged.

“Ugh, fine. You did a good enough job with everything else so we can leave that.” The Mother said.

She walked over to the fridge and got out the same soda that Ash was going to take with him. She brought it to him and placed it in his hand. He looked at it for a moment then back to his sister.

“If you don't want me to do this, why are you helping?” Ash questioned.

“It's not that I don't want you to find someone, I just don't want you to get hurt. I know you've never been in love before, Ash. I'm worried that if your first love is a human then you'll be unwilling to find love again after you lose him… Listen, we don't need to be talking about all that before you go. Just go have a nice time with a clear mind and worry about everything later.” The Mother replied.

“Yeah! I mean, do you even know if he likes you back?” Lawless inquired.

“Well… He's gotta like me enough to wanna hang out with me at least. So, that's a start.” Ash said.

“There you go. Just keep that in mind. Is there a time you have to be there by? I could drive you if want.” She offered.

Ash shook his head. “Three. I'd rather walk though. I can make it in time.”

Ash’s siblings were a bit surprised that he would willingly walk since the park was so far. They weren't about to complain though, since they were sure walking would be better for him. Lawless glanced at his phone when it vibrated in his hand.

“Well, it's just past two so you should probably go now.” Lawless stated as he started typing on his phone.

“Don't worry about coming home in time for dinner, okay? Just enjoy yourself.” The Mother said.

Ash nodded and opened the soda with a loud pop. He took a sip as he headed out of the room. Lawless sat back down on the couch and looked up from his phone.

“You never complained about me and Angel.” He noted.

“Because he's delusional. That makes him perfect for you.” The Mother responded.

“Hey!” Lawless complained.

Ash walked out of the house with Kuro right by his feet. It was really starting to set in that he was going to see Mahiru and the extra effort he put in to get ready really created the illusion that it was a date. Ash shook his head. He couldn't think of it like that. It's not what Ash suggested to Mahiru and it's not what Mahiru believed he was going to. It would be wrong of Ash to think of it like a date. The thought actually made Ash feel a little creeped out by himself. He didn't want to end up becoming something like an obsessed stalker to Mahiru. He wanted to get closer to Mahiru, not scare him off.

Ash walked out of the front yard and began his trek down the street. It was awkwardly quiet around him since no other houses or families lived near the Ash household. The south end of town wasn't where most people lived, or wanted to live, in the first place. It took him awhile to actually get into town. The only worry on Ash’s mind was about Mahiru, until he started walking past other people. Then he worried about being recognized. There was a group of young women he walked by. They all gasped and scooted a few feet to the side when they saw his face. Ash just kept walking with his head down. After enough years it was just something that he became numb to. That didn't mean he didn't hate it though. A little boy on the sidewalk reached over to pet Kuro, but his mom quickly snatched him away before the boy even got close. Ash stood at a crosswalk and waited for the light to change. Kuro sat down next to him and waited. He could tell that a few people on the other side of the street didn't want to cross after noticing him. The light turned red and Ash and Kuro walked across. Some people walked by without a problem, some quickly hurried past him while keeping their distance, and the rest waited for the next light change just so they wouldn't have to risk being near him. Ash sighed and Kuro looked up at him. Kuro let out a little meow and Ash glanced down.

“I'm fine, boy. I just hope no one calls C3.” Ash reassured his cat.

As Ash looked back up and across the street he saw advertisement for the nearby hot springs. He couldn't help but feel a bit guilty for ignoring Old Child earlier. Ash knew he was one of the few things that were actually important to his little brother, but after spending so much time together, Ash just started feeling suffocated by him. He'd have to make it up to Old Child later on.

He found himself walking past the high school. He didn't bother to look at it since it didn't mean anything to him. He just kept on going. Kuro, though, picked up a familiar smell and he lagged behind a few feet as he sniffed the air. Realizing Ash was leaving him behind, Kuro ran off to catch up.

Ash took a turn so he wasn't following the road that lead out of town. He continued heading north and ended up at the parking lot for the park. There were a few cars, but plenty of empty spaces so there weren't too many people confirmed to be in the park. Of course, that only covered the people that came by car. Most people walked there instead. Ash wondered if Mahiru was already waiting for him. He looked up at the sign for the park entrance.

‘Ashford Park’

Ash hated seeing his last name plastered everywhere he went. He just sucked it up and walked into the park, throwing away his soda can as he passed by a trash can.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooo... I originally planned for this entire chapter to just be, like, the first quarter of the whole chapter, but I got way too carried away. So the date will take up the next chapter instead.
> 
> Also, I did more world building than I wanted to, but what's that matter anyway. This is a Sleepy Ash centric fic so it's a bit justified since most things in this AU actually revolve around him.


	3. Kuro, The Science Experiment

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> God, I so did not wanna proofread this chapter. I'm waaaaay too lazy… but I did it anyway! I'm too tired to be proud of myself for it.
> 
> Either way, I can't believe I did this in… what? Two days? Something must be wrong with me (´･_･`) This isn't normal. Someone call a doctor. If I keep this up I'm just gonna crash and burn.
> 
> Well, enjoy these fast uploads while they last…

Ashford Park.

Sleepy Ash didn't have a problem with the park itself, just parks as a whole. Places where people congregate to enjoy the outdoors or bring their kids to play on the playset. Luckily, Ashford Park was the former and not the latter. Ash hated being at the park already just because of all the nature. He didn't need annoying, terrifying little kids added to the mix.

Inside the park, it immediately started off as a trail. One with wooden railings on either side and a partially wooden path on the ground. It was like a path used for hiking so no one ran the risk of slipping and falling. The path continued far into the forest. It was only two miles long, but there were many branching paths. The main path followed along the main road that connected the town and the major city located to the north. The forest ended before actually reaching the city and so did the path so walking or driving along the road was the only way to leave town, unless one took the south road which lead to the ocean, but there were no ports that way.

There were benches placed against the railing near the entrance, so Ash decided to take a seat. He didn't see Mahiru anywhere meaning he probably got there first. Ash didn't take himself as the type not to be late, so he took out his phone to check the time. It was a few minutes before three. Ash was actually early. Perhaps Mahiru was just planning on being on time.

Kuro jumped up on the bench and curled up in Ash’s lap. They both were tired from walking such a long way. Ash started getting worried over the fact that he'd have to do even more walking. He had no idea how long he and Mahiru would stay, or how much they'd walk. It could just be up and down the main path, or they could take all the branching paths. Ash hoped it was just the main path, but he knew he'd go along with whatever Mahiru wanted to do.

Ash put a hand on Kuro’s back to start petting him. He could hear a purr coming from the small cat. Suddenly Kuro’s ears perked up and he lifted his head to stare at something beyond the trees. Ash looked in the same direction, but didn't see anything. However, it felt like someone or something was staring back at him and he suddenly remembered what was so special about the park. It was a supernatural hotspot. It wasn't something he could feel or sense for certain, but he just knew. He could tell there were plenty of them hiding behind the trees. He hoped that him being at the park didn't stir them up. Ash didn't want anything ruining his first time being alone with Mahiru.

Ash let his hand be still on Kuro’s back. He noticed Kuro was still staring of in the distance. Kuro had stopped purring and Ash could feel that Kuro was getting ready to hiss. He couldn't figure out what was upsetting the black cat. It dawned on Ash that the air in the park was a bit stuffy. Like there was a presence in the air itself. There was something that had the creatures in the park on edge and Ash didn't know what it was.

“Hey.” Ash called out as he rubbed behind Kuro’s ear.

Kuro looked up at him.

“I can count on you to make sure none of them act up while I'm with Mahiru, right?” Ash said.

Kuro nodded his head and let out a determined sounding meow.

Ash felt comfortable about having backup from Kuro. If Mahiru thought he was human then he'd have to keep up the illusion so dealing with something supernatural would ruin that illusion.

Ash picked up his phone again and nervously checked it. It was one minute to three. It wasn't three yet so there was still time until Mahiru was late. It's not like one, or even several, minutes late mattered to Ash. He was late for almost everything all the time. But it still worried him that Mahiru might stand him up. He was still looking at his phone when the time changed to exactly three and the screen turned off, showing nothing but black. Ash sighed. He didn't want to start freaking out, but he was already beginning to feel paranoid. He just had to hope that if Mahiru didn't show up then he'd at least get a text explaining why.

“Kuro!!”

Both Ash and Kuro looked up and over to the entrance of the park. Everything started to slow down for Ash. His cheeks turned red and his eyes widened. It was Mahiru. He had the brightest smile Ash had seen from him yet and was waving a hand in the air. Mahiru wore a black shirt that said ‘sunny’ and a plain orange jacket. He had on black capris with a white belt and the same shoes Ash had previously seen him wearing. Mahiru went straight to Kuro and lifted him up off of Ash’s lap. The apparent magic of the moment immediately disappeared for Ash.

“How are you!? Oh, you look extra fluffy today! Yes you do, yes you do~!” Mahiru cheerfully complimented Kuro.

Kuro squirmed around in Mahiru’s grip. He may have liked being petted by pre-approved people, but he did not like being baby talked to by anyone. Ash stared at poor Kuro as Mahiru held the cat close and ruffled the fur on his head. Ash was starting to get the feeling that Mahiru was more interested in seeing Kuro than him. Mahiru finally looked at Sleepy Ash.

“Hey Ash! I didn't keep you waiting, did I?” Mahiru greeted.

“Ah, n-no. You're right on time actually.” Ash replied.

“Yeah, I always try to be on time. It's just simpler than being early or late.” Mahiru said.

The brunet sat down on the bench next to Ash. It wasn't exactly a big bench so Mahiru ended up extremely close to Ash. Ash froze as he felt Mahiru’s arm press closely against his own. He was too afraid to move it so Mahiru could have more room, but at the same time he didn't want to move it in the first place. He almost couldn't hide the excitement he was feeling on the inside from being so close to Mahiru. Ash glanced over to Mahiru who seemed preoccupied with petting a clearly aggravated Kuro.

“S-so… uh, d-do you like the park?” Ash nervously asked.

Mahiru looked over at Ash.

“Yeah! I come here a lot. I don't live far from here so it's an easy place to come to. I also really love the feeling I get from being here. There's just something about the park that keeps me coming back. Like it draws me in… or… something weird like that, haha. Do you like it here?” Mahiru responded.

“Uuumm… I don't hate it. I'm just not much of an ‘outside’ person.” Ash admitted, feeling nervous over what Mahiru would think.

“Oh, you're more into playing video games indoors, huh?” Mahiru wondered.

“Yeah… It's kinda all I do.” Ash muttered and looked away from Mahiru.

“All you do? Say, how old are you Ash?” Mahiru inquired.

Ash froze. He didn't know which answer to give. How old he physically was, or how old he really was. The safest answer would be the more normal one.

“Um, eighteen.” Ash answered.

“So you graduated high school this year? Or, I guess, the year before.”

“Uh, no… I was, uh, homeschooled.”

That wasn't exactly something Ash ever said since the only people he knew already knew that, although he wasn't ignorant to the fact that being homeschooled was something he could get made fun of for. He just hoped Mahiru didn't think he was weird for it. It was true after all, although he never truly graduated… or even got past a middle school level. He was afraid he'd have to end up admitting that. He didn't want to come off as dumb for not being fully educated.

“Home schooled!? Wow! I've always wondered what that was like! You live with your seven other siblings, right? Are you all home schooled?” Mahiru inquired.

Ash was glad that Mahiru didn't see it as a bad thing.

“No, not all of us. My sister, and my brothers, Doubt and Love, went to school when they were younger. The rest of us were homeschooled. Oh, except for Lawless, who had private tutors, and Old Child, who's five.” Ash explained.

He made sure to be honest with Mahiru, but left out enough information so as to not sound suspicious. Giving Mahiru the full truth would probably sound like he was lying, or that he just couldn't remember how old his siblings were. It would be weird for Ash to admit that he was the oldest while the only one physically younger than him was the five-year old, who also happened to be the second eldest.

“That's odd. Your parents didn't want to do the same thing for all of you?” Mahiru wondered.

“No. Our father wanted us all to be homeschooled, but not all of our mothers wanted that.” Ash told him.

Mahiru looked surprised to hear that. Ash could tell it didn't have anything to do with the homeschooling part. Aaaand now here came the awkward part of the conversation for Ash.

“You're all- um…” Mahiru trailed off, not sure how to word what he wanted to say.

“Half siblings yeah. We all have different mothers.” Ash stated, already knowing what Mahiru would ask.

Mahiru had a lot he wanted to ask, but it didn't feel right to pry into Ash’s personal life just because he was curious. Mahiru got the feeling it wasn't Ash’s favorite topic to discuss anyway. Especially since Mahiru noticed him using past tense when he referred to his parents. Mahiru decided it was best to try steering the conversation in a different direction.

“I'm an only child, so I don't know what it's like to have half siblings, let alone full siblings.” Mahiru stated.

Ash glanced to Mahiru. “It has its ups and downs, that's for sure.”

Ash fell quiet after that and Mahiru felt like he failed. Kuro jumped out of Mahiru’s grasp and landed in Ash’s lap. Ash put a hand on Kuro’s head. Mahiru sighed and stood up from the bench. He stood in front of Ash, who looked up at him with a curious expression.

“Why don't we go walk down the path together?” Mahiru suggested with a smile on his face.

Ash nodded his head and stood up. Kuro jumped down onto the bench then up onto the wooden railing.

“Do you want to just take the main path?” Mahiru asked.

“Yeah, if that's fine with you…” Ash answered.

Mahiru smiled again as confirmation and the two began walking together with Kuro following them on the railing. It was silent between them for a while. The only thing heard was the sound of their footsteps, birds chirping, and leaves rustling in the wind. Mahiru liked listening to the sounds of nature, while Ash hated how loud it sounded in his head. Mahiru wanted to say something so they could start a conversation again, but had trouble coming up with a topic. He suddenly remembered history class earlier at school and what he read in his textbook.

“Hey, do you know the myths about this forest?” Mahiru inquired.

Ash was pretty sure he did know, but he wasn't sure which ones Mahiru was talking about. He also wanted to hear whatever Mahiru had to say, even if he already knew about it, so he shook his head.

“What myths?” Ash asked.

Mahiru looked off to stare out at the trees as they walked.

“Well… It's said this forest is where a lot of supernatural creatures live. There's been sightings going farther back than when the town was founded. There's been people out here at night that claim they see women beyond the trees, and get this, there's at least six different women seen and each one is only seen around a certain time of year. It's always the same six too.”

Ash glanced away from Mahiru. While he'd never seen anything like that in the park before, he immediately knew what it was. He heard stories about it and even of the descriptions of the women. Despite never seeing it himself, just from their descriptions alone Ash knew it was true.

“There was this one incident a few hundred years ago where people described seeing a unicorn laying in the forest and bleeding. When they checked back almost an hour later the unicorn was gone, but there was blood left at the scene.”

Ash remembered that one a bit. He was sleeping a lot that day so it wasn't something too vivid in his memories. Apparently Doubt Doubt was out hunting, back when that wasn't banned in the forest yet, and accidentally shot a unicorn without realizing it was even a unicorn. He felt bad and didn't want to kill it so he came home to get help. The Mother went with him and tried to take care of it, of course it being a unicorn, the wounds healed up pretty easily after that and it left on its own.

“Then there's also relatively recent sightings, starting one hundred years ago, of people coming here alone and meeting someone else who has weird conversations with them then robs them without them knowing about it. This one is supernatural because everyone that's made these claims says they saw the person have two black and white tails. What's stranger, though, is that the description of the person is different every time. The only consistency other than the tails is the person is always a man with his eyes closed.”

That wasn't one Ash knew about, surprisingly. He never heard of a man with two tails before. He did believe it though, since practically everything supernatural turned out to be true in their town. Kuro, on the other hand, hissed and turned his nose up. It surprised Ash and Mahiru, who both looked over at the cat. Ash wasn't completely sure, but he thought his cat was angry over the last myth Mahiru told him. Ash looked back at Mahiru.

“Do you really believe all that though?” Ash questioned.

“Well, I believe in Occam’s Razor. It revolves around the theory that the simplest hypothesis proposed as an explanation of phenomena is more likely to be the true one than is any other available hypothesis. So, if the most logical and simple explanation is that it really is something supernatural, then yes. I believe it. Although, I haven't actually found anything like that, so… actually no. I guess I don't.” Mahiru answered.

Sleepy Ash stared at Mahiru. He had no idea what anything Mahiru said actually meant, but he thought he got the gist of it. If there was a simpler explanation to something believed to be supernatural, then Mahiru went with the simple option. It made sense to Ash, at least in theory. It was a bit hard for him to give something like that credence when the things Mahiru told him about actually were supernatural.

“Do you believe it, Ash?” Mahiru asked.

“...I've seen enough questionable things in my life to keep myself open-minded.” Ash kept his answer vague enough to be true, but not overly revealing.

Mahiru laughed and Ash got a confused expression on his face. He didn't know if he said something that Mahiru found funny, or if Mahiru was laughing at him.

“Haha! You're the mysterious type, aren't you, Ash?” Mahiru noted.

Ash stared at Mahiru. He didn't actually know. Was he mysterious? It wasn't his intention to come off like that. Sure, he was hiding things, but he was trying to be as honest as possible despite that. Ash didn't respond to Mahiru and it became quiet around them again.

They passed by a big group of slightly older people. Ash hoped none of them recognized him. It was more often the older townsfolk that kept more of an eye out for him and his siblings. One of them walked right by Ash, a bit too close to him for comfort, and he tensed up. He kept his head facing forward so he didn't look suspicious. Nothing seemed to come out of it as the two groups got further away from each other. Ash let out a sigh of relief. He just wanted to be alone with Mahiru so no one could ruin the moment. Every single person that saw him was another opportunity for someone to announce his presence or call C3. 

Ash glanced at Mahiru. The brunet had a small smile on his face and was simply enjoying their walk together. Ash wanted to keep talking with Mahiru. The silence felt too awkward to him and the stuffy air in the park only made him feel more uncomfortable. He hoped Mahiru wasn't feeling the same way and just putting on a fake smile.

“So, um… Ya like cats?” Ash asked.

He felt stupid over asking that. He already knew the answer and the way he worded it came off as way too simplistic to him. There were so many better ways he could have asked that. They looked at each other and Ash saw Mahiru’s face light up. He couldn't help but blush at the sight of it.

“Cats are my favorite animal! They're so soft and cute and amazing! They're capable of understanding so much! It's like you look in their eyes and they just know. Did you know dogs can only make ten different vocal sounds while cats can make one hundred?” Mahiru cheerfully said.

It made Ash so happy to hear Mahiru talk about cats in such an energetic way. It made him want to join in.

“Cats can be right-pawed or left-pawed like people. Kuro is right-pawed.” Ash said.

“Cats can jump seven times their height!” Mahiru added.

“Cats can't see under their noses.” Ash added as well.

“Cats have two hundred-thirty bones!”

“Cats can't sweat.”

“Cats can't move their jaw sideways!”

“All cats are born with blue eyes.”

“Cats’ brains are closer to humans than dogs’ brains are!”

“White cats with blue eyes are deaf and if it's one blue eye then it's just the ear on that side.”

Mahiru stood still and Ash stopped next to him. Mahiru just stared at him with a look surprise. Ash hoped he didn't say something wrong, or worse, his information was incorrect and Mahiru was about to make fun of him for it.

“Wait, really? I never knew that!” Mahiru exclaimed.

“Uh, yeah. It can also happen in white cats with yellow or green eyes, but it's most common in ones with blue eyes. It happens with the, uh… man, what's it called? Organ of Corti I think. Pretty sure that was it. Yeah, and after that the spiral… gang...lion... degenerates too.” Ash explained, feeling pretty proud of himself for using big words and medical talk.

“Wow! So, all cats with white fur and blue eyes are deaf?” Mahiru repeated.

“Um, well… No, not all. That's a misconception. It's just, like, a super common thing.” Ash clarified.

Mahiru stared at him and Ash felt nervous. He knew that sometimes his vast supply of cat knowledge got him weird looks from his siblings. Mahiru seemed very knowledgeable about cats as well, but the way he stared at Ash made Ash afraid that he nerded out a bit too much.

“It's amazing to meet someone else that knows so much, and maybe more than me, about cats! My friends always tell me I'm going to end up becoming one of those crazy cat ladies when I'm older. Living alone with, like, ten cats as my children. It can get a little annoying to be laughed at about it.” Mahiru admitted.

It was Ash’s turn to stare at Mahiru. He felt exactly the same way as Mahiru and it made him feel so overjoyed.

“I feel ya there. My siblings say I'm cat obsessed. Although, I wouldn't mind living with ten cats. Then again, I think that just proves them right.” Ash responded.

Mahiru chuckled and Ash knew right away that it wasn't meant to be Mahiru making fun of him. He ended up worried anyway, though, because Mahiru feel silent and stared down at the ground.

“I wish I had a cat, at least.” Mahiru muttered.

“Wait, you like cats so much… but you don't have one?” Ash inquired.

Mahiru glanced at Kuro, who was sitting down on the railing, waiting for the two males to keep walking.

“No. I've never even had a pet of any kind before. A pet wasn't something I could afford with my mom and it would be too much responsibility right now with my uncle.” Mahiru explained.

Ash knew what Mahiru was feeling. He never had a pet either until Kuro came along, and that was only thirteen years ago. He didn't like that Mahiru had that same feeling. He looked back at Kuro too.

“You're free to borrow Kuro if you want. He pretty much takes care of himself and he comes and goes as he pleases too, so there's not much you'd have to do responsibility wise…” Ash offered.

Kuro’s ears perked up and he seemed both shocked and confused at Ash’s words. Ash was pretty protective of Kuro when it came to other people. The only exception was people that Kuro didn't mind, and Mahiru and his friends, which were only an exception to Ash, not Kuro. It was a shock to the cat that Ash was essentially suggesting he and Mahiru share Kuro. At the same time, Kuro understood Ash’s uncharacteristic behavior as him trying to win Mahiru over.

He couldn't figure out what his owner saw in the human. He agreed with Ash’s sister. Humans die easily. Their lives are fleeting and letting even just one in only causes trouble. Kuro knew that all too well. Humans were afraid of what they couldn't understand. That's what made them afraid of Ash and his family. That's what made them afraid of Kuro. Mahiru’s laughter made Kuro focus back on him.

“That actually sounds interesting. I have to admit, I really like Kuro. I don't think I've ever come across a cat that I was interested in as much as I am with him, but it would feel a little wrong to me. He's your cat, you shouldn't have to share him with someone else.” Mahiru said.

“Well, uh, the offer’s always there. Hell, Kuro’s a free reign kinda cat. You may find him coming your way on his own.” Ash stated.

Mahiru laughed again and nodded at Ash. Kuro turned his head away. Mahiru’s hair may have been a wonderful place to take a nap to Kuro, but he didn't actually want anything to do with said human.

“Hey, let's keep walking.” Mahiru suggested.

Ash nodded and the two began walking down the path again. Kuro got up and followed along side them. They had only walked about a half-mile so far. Ash didn't want to show it, but he we getting tired. To walk to the end and all the way back would mean walking four miles. Ash didn't know if he could actually do that. Mahiru seemed just fine, though. Ash didn't want to end holding Mahiru back if the brunet wanted to do a lot more walking. Ash regretted not at least bringing water. He did drink a soda on the way, but that wasn't exactly healthy. Not like his health was even an issue. Staying hydrated wasn't really necessary if nothing could kill him. It did make him feel better on a physical level, though.

The path ahead of them wasn't a straight one. Due to some very large trees in the way of the path, it ended up winding a bit. It was basically a big corner that they had to go around, but it was sharp enough that seeing what was around it was almost impossible. There was a branching path towards the end of it that led further into the forest. They rounded the corner and Ash suddenly froze. He spotted a small group of people in white uniforms standing off to the side and talking amongst themselves. Kuro saw them as well and started hissing. Ash didn't want to be anywhere near them. He was too afraid to make a sound incase one of them looked in his direction, but he wanted to get away as quickly as possible. Just them seeing him would ruin everything. They'd attack him right away and there was a chance Mahiru would become a target as well. Ash didn't want to put Mahiru in danger like that. Mahiru finally stopped and turned around, noticing Ash was several feet behind him.

“Hm? Is something wrong, Ash?” Mahiru asked, noticing he seemed stuck in place.

Ash dropped his head down and rubbed the back of his neck.

“U-um… If it's not too much to ask, can we go down the other path? I think there's something down this way that Kuro doesn't like.” Ash requested and pointed to the branching path.

Mahiru stared at Sleepy Ash. He knew Ash had been acting nervous around him pretty much the whole time, but now it seemed more like Ash had been crippled by fear. The hooded man was looking at the ground and fidgeting with his hands. His eyes darted around at the dirt and wooden planks of the path and he bit his lip. Mahiru was certain that whatever Ash was referring to, he didn't like it either. Mahiru didn't want Ash, or Kuro, to be uncomfortable. He wanted them to have a good time with him so he was more than willing to comply with Ash’s request.

“Sure! I don't mind.” Mahiru said with a smile.

Ash looked up at Mahiru with a bit of surprise. Mahiru’s smile eased his concerns and he let out a sigh of relief. Kuro was still hissing so Mahiru walked over to the cat and picked him up. Ash wanted to stop Mahiru in case Kuro tried to bite him. The small cat had a tendency to get violent around C3. Ash was pleasantly surprised to see that Kuro didn't try anything. He just let Mahiru pick him up and hold him in his arms. Mahiru kept a hand on Kuro’s head to pet him and walked up to Ash.

“You're okay, Kuro.” Mahiru told the cat.

Kuro’s hissing turned into purring and he put his head down on Mahiru’s arm. Even if the human didn't have permission to pet him, Kuro had to admit that Mahiru was good at it. Ash couldn't help but stare at the beautiful sight.

“Uh, thanks.” Ash muttered.

Mahiru nodded and they began their detour down the branching path. The path they were now headed down went all the way into the east side of the forest and stopped at a dead end. It was a short path so it was only a few minutes of walking until they got there. Two teenagers walked past them on the way, obviously a couple. It got Ash thinking about his intentions with Mahiru. He was told to ask Mahiru out on a date, but he never actually used that word specifically. Doubt told him the park was a common date spot, but that wasn't exactly what Ash and Mahiru were doing. Ash wanted to think of Mahiru as some kind of love interest to him, but he had no way of knowing if Mahiru was interested in him like that.

Upon reaching the end of the path, Ash stood still. He didn't know what he was looking at. There were makeshift steps at the end that lead to a campsite. It wasn't a real one, but a historical recreation of the town founder’s campsite when he was staying in the forest doing research. Ash didn't actually know that was down there. It must have been new. He didn't know how new, though. There was another couple at the campsite that looked like they were getting ready to leave.

“Oh! I totally forgot about this. It’s a common date spot. From what I've heard you tend to get made fun of for coming here alone so I've never actually been here.” Mahiru said.

Ash wanted to scream. He was at a popular date spot. With Mahiru. The guy he wanted to go on a date with.

“Haha, I guess it’s kind of embarrassing being at a place like this together. I mean, it's not like this is a date in the first place. Hm, but I've always wanted to come look at it. We should check it out anyway.” Mahiru suggested and walked down the steps.

Ash had to clench his jaw shut so he didn't scream. The leaving couple passed by him as he stood there. He looked at Mahiru, who was observing the campsite near the unlit fire pit. He hesitated before slowly walking down one step at a time. He trudged over to the fire pit with Mahiru and sat down on a fake log that was meant to be a seat. He was trying to calm his nerves down when Mahiru sat down next to him on the log. As a bright blush started appearing on his face, Ash didn't think it could get much worse. Suddenly, Kuro’s ears perked up again and he lifted his head to stare out into the forest. Before Mahiru could do anything about it Kuro jumped out of his lap and ran off into the woods, leaving Ash alone with Mahiru.

“Kuro! U-um, is it okay that he just ran off?” Mahiru asked, sounding extremely concerned.

Ash wanted to say no since Kuro was meant to be his wingman in a way, but instead the cat left Ash by himself at a date location with the person he wanted to date. Ash just sighed and tried to let it be. Obviously if Kuro left at such a crucial moment then it had to be related to something in the forest. He did tell Kuro to take of it if something in the forest acted up due to Ash’s presence.

“Y-yeah. He's allowed to leave and do whatever he wants. He’s smart enough that he always comes back without an issue. Plus he has a collar, so people know he's a pet.” Ash answered.

Mahiru stared out at the forest where Kuro ran off. He didn't doubt Ash, Kuro was his pet after all, but he still couldn't help but worry about Kuro’s safety. He was a small cat so anything could easily snatch him up. Despite his concerns, Mahiru looked back to Ash with a smile.

“Have you heard about this place?” Mahiru wondered.

“Uh, other than just now, no. I had no idea about this spot.” Ash replied.

“It was put up almost a year ago as an early celebration for the town’s six hundredth anniversary. It's supposed to be a historical spot that you can come and sit at, but other teenagers ended up taking it over and deciding it was a date spot. That's because it wasn't exactly popular so it ended up being a pretty secluded place. On the down low... I've heard it's also a party spot. I've never been though, I'm not really popular enough to get invited to one. I wouldn't even go anyway, since I've also heard they bring alcohol. Apparently my friend Sakuya, the one that's your gaming rival, came to a party here a few weeks ago. He got wasted and got in some seriously bad trouble with his parents for sneaking out.” Mahiru explained.

Ash just nodded his head. He didn't care for much of what Mahiru told him about. Teenagers were stupid and reckless and no matter how many decades passed they just stayed the same. That did explain why Ash was picking up the faint scent of beer, though. There was one thing about Mahiru’s explanation that bothered him.

“What is this supposed to be a historical spot of?” Ash asked.

“Eh? You don't know the story? This is where the founder set up camp to do research on the supposed ‘supernatural creatures’ in the forest.” Mahiru answered.

Ash went wide eyed. He had no idea he was sitting in the same spot as his father did almost six hundred years ago. He wanted to get up and leave and never come back. It disgusted him just thinking about that man. Mahiru realized that Ash seemed on edge so he put a hand on the hooded man’s shoulder. Ash tensed up a bit and looked at Mahiru. His face started burning up.

“You okay?” Mahiru questioned.

“Yeah ...I just don't care much for history… for this town’s history…” Ash admitted.

“ Really? This place is kind of interesting to me. Well, in a quirky, weird kind of way. Because of how odd this whole island is, it makes me want to know more... Although, I'm not even originally from here so I feel like an outsider sometimes. Learning about this place helps with that.” Mahiru said.

“What…? You're not from here? Did you move here or something?” Ash inquired.

“Yep. I moved here from Japan to live with my uncle when I was six. He moved here some time before I was born.” Mahiru answered.

It didn't really surprise Ash that much. The town was almost fully made up of both European and Japanese immigrants. Although, the same couldn't be said for the city up north, which was a bit more diverse. What was surprising to Ash though, was that Mahiru and his uncle moved into town rather being descendants of immigrants that moved there generations ago. It was pretty unheard of now for people without ties to the town to just up and move in. Outsiders weren't exactly welcomed with open arms in Ashford.

Ash wanted to know more. Mainly because it was Mahiru and he wanted to know everything about Mahiru.

“Why’d you leave Japan?” Ash asked.

Mahiru was silent for a moment, like he was contemplating whether or not to give Ash an answer. His eyes looked away from Ash and down at the dirt.

“Because my mom died... I never knew my dad and nobody else would take me in except for my uncle.” Mahiru responded.

Ash immediately regretted asking that. He knew that look on Mahiru’s face. He got the same expression whenever parents were brought up around him. Mahiru’s story sounded a bit like Ash’s, except Ash initially believed he knew his father and no one ever took him or his siblings in. Ash wanted to cheer Mahiru up, but he never saw meaning in just saying ‘I'm sorry’ and giving the person a pat on the back. He wanted to get closer to Mahiru too. Ash wanted Mahiru to know that he understood how he felt, that Mahiru wasn't alone.

“...My… My mother is dead too… and my father left when I was five.” Ash revealed.

He decided not to mention that his father ended up coming back then leaving again numerous times.

Mahiru flashed a fake smile.

“At least we both have other family members. I have my uncle and you have your siblings.” He said.

“Yeah.” Ash muttered and nodded his head.

Ash didn't really agree with that, but he wasn't about to admit it. At the very least he could say he had Old Child and Kuro, and that was it.

Deep in the forest, Kuro quietly and slowly placed a paw down on the dirt. He crept around the base of a tree like he was a lion, stalking whatever prey was trying to hide itself from him. Unbeknownst to him, Kuro was also being stalked by the same prey he was after from the other side of the tree. He knew his prey was close, very close, but he couldn't see it so he had to be extra cautious. His tail twitched and a white snout poked out from behind him. Getting closer to Kuro’s tail, it's jaw opened and slowly moved in around the tail. Unsuspecting Kuro had his tail chomped down on, causing Kuro to freeze and tense up.

“Mmmrooooww!!” Kuro screeched and yanked his tail away as he ran forward.

The poor cat didn't make it far since he tripped on a tree root and went face first into the dirt. He heard snickering behind him, familiar snickering.

“Kehehehe! Silly Kuro couldn't even see me! How pathetic.” His prey mocked him.

Kuro kept his sore tail tucked down as he got up and shook the dirt off his face, his bell jingling loudly. He turned around to see a black and white fox with two tails and closed eyes.

“There you are, Tsubaki. I knew you were here.” Kuro said.

The fox, sharing his name with the youngest of the Ash family, happily wagged his tails at the sight of Kuro.

“My, my! You did? That makes me sooo happy that you knew! So, what brings my bestest pal out to the forest today? I didn't think you ever came here.” Tsubaki questioned.

Kuro glared at Tsubaki. “I am not your pal, I've told you dozens of times that I don't even like you. And I'm only here because my owner is spending time with a human. I'm acting as their guardian, making sure nuisances like you don't interrupt them.”

Tsubaki let out an exaggerated gasp. “Reeeally!? Kehehe! You're still a pet!? Geeeez! When are you gonna ditch those humans and come have some fun on my side?”

“Like I've said, they're not humans! They're like me… and I don't like your side. I prefer relaxing indoors where I know there's always a meal waiting for me.” Kuro refused.

Tsubaki walked up to Kuro and circled around him. One of his tails slid under the bell of Kuro’s collar. Kuro swatted the tail away with a paw.

“You'll never know freedom until you free yourself of that ridiculous shackle.” Tsubaki said.

“I know what those shackles feel like. This is not one of them. This is a gift.” Kuro said, referring to his collar.

Tsubaki just snickered, finding Kuro’s response a tad bit humorous. Kuro looked away from the annoying fox.

“You need to leave. C3 is in the area and I don't want anything bothering Ash.” Kuro ordered.

“Oooh? I need to leave? As in, go? Disappear? Be gone? Poof?” As Tsubaki said that, he vanished in a puff of smoke.

Kuro wasn't fazed by it since he was used to the fox doing that. It was when he turned around to come a bit more than face to face with Tsubaki that he flinched.

“You think I can't conduct myself in a proper manner when those rats are around? Of course I can! I just choose not to! It's much more fun to mess with them!” Tsubaki exclaimed.

Kuro backed up. “No! Don't do that! Just leave! Go bother some citizens in town or something, just don't be here for the time being.”

“Kehehe! And what if I refuse?” Tsubaki teased.

“Leave! Now! Or I'll bite both your tails off!” Kuro threatened and hissed at Tsubaki.

“Ooooh! Look at the cute, sweet, little kitten trying to be scary! I'm soooo intimidated~!” Tsubaki said in a fake scared tone.

Kuro groaned and Tsubaki laughed at him. They both knew Kuro would never put forth the effort to do something about the annoying, inconsequential fox.

“Listen, Kuuuro~ I'm seeing a determination in you that I don't think I've ever seen before. If it's really what you want, for me to leave, then so be it. You are my bestest pal after all! Kehehe! I'll go elsewhere for the day, but only because you want me to.” Tsubaki submitted.

Kuro let out a sigh of relief. He was glad that one possible problem was dealt with. The two animals stared at each other for a moment until Tsubaki suddenly disappeared, leaving behind nothing but smoke. Kuro suddenly stood up on all fours, remembering he had something else he needed to say.

“And stop stealing from humans! You'll get caught eventually!” Kuro shouted, hoping Tsubaki would hear him.

“Nooo promises, pal!” Tsubaki replied.

Kuro looked around, but couldn't find the fox anywhere, let alone pick up on his scent. Deciding Tsubaki was finally dealt with, Kuro wanted to start making his way back to Sleepy Ash and Mahiru. He was pretty far away from the campsite and he hated running, so it would take him a few minutes to get back. He started making his way back at a jogging pace. It was quiet in the forest, a bit too quiet. Kuro believed it was due to the loudness of his and Tsubaki’s encounter, which caused the other forest residents to be wary. A nearby crunching sound of leaves made Kuro change his mind. The cat stood still and his ears twitched when he heard the sound again. Sniffing the air, Kuro could tell humans were nearby. Two different scents, ones he recognized, but didn't belong to anyone he actually knew. His ears twitched again as he picked up voices.

“Seriously? I don't see anything! Ugh! This stupid forest is so annoying! Why are we always stuck with park duty!?”

“Stop complaining about it. Our info is never wrong so just keep looking.”

“Maaan! This would be way easier with Tsurugi here! But noooo, they don't put the sensor on park duty! It's like a damn maze out here! The least they could do is stick the human radar with us in this God forsaken hellhole!”

“Okay. Stop. You do this every time we have park duty. It's getting a little intolerable. He's the only sensor we still have so he's pretty busy all the time, you know that.”

Kuro only heard incoherent grumbling after that. He peeked around a bush to see two humans, one blonde, one brunet. He recognized their white jackets as C3 uniforms. Kuro had to fight the urge to confront them. He already got rid of Tsubaki, he couldn't ruin everything for Ash by trying to take on two, maybe more, C3 members. There was a chance he wouldn't win anyway so he didn't want to risk it. He carefully continued on his way past the two humans and was overjoyed to finally see the campsite appear in his view. He didn't want to alert Ash that C3 was snooping around since he was afraid it would disrupt his time with Mahiru, so when Kuro finally entered the campsite he just kept himself calm like he always was. He sat down next to the log that Ash and Mahiru were sitting on.

“Mrow.”

They both looked over to see Kuro and Mahiru happily scooped the cat up in his arms.

“Kuro! There you are! I was worried about you!” Mahiru exclaimed as he hugged Kuro.

The cat was annoyed, but he let it happen anyway. Ash reached a hand over and pet Kuro on the head.

“Huh. He doesn't usually come back that quickly.” Ash stated.

“I bet it's because he missed me! Did you, Kuro? Did you miss me? I missed you!” Mahiru baby talked to the cat.

Kuro scowled at Mahiru and kicked his back paws around. He just got done dealing with one nuisance, he didn't want to deal with another one. Mahiru stood up with Kuro in his arms.

“Want to get going, Ash” Mahiru asked.

“Sure.” Ash said.

He stood up as well and began walking with Mahiru. They made their way back to the main path and Ash checked to see if C3 was gone. He didn't see them anymore so he wasn't worried about it.

“Hey. Do you think it would be fine going down the main path now, or would you rather we head back to the entrance?” Mahiru wondered.

Ash wasn't sure. Since the moment he got into the park he wanted to leave, but leaving would mean he'd have to stop hanging out with Mahiru. He didn't want that, but he didn't want to stay either.

Mahiru could see the uncertainty on Ash’s face. Knowing Ash was more of an inside person, Mahiru didn't want to keep him outside for too long. He kind of got a feeling that Ash was ready to call it quits anyway.

“You know what, don't worry about it. It is a weekday so I guess I shouldn't stay out too long. Why don't we start heading back?” Mahiru suggested.

Ash felt disappointed in himself that he didn't make a decision fast enough. He wasn't about to protest Mahiru’s choice, though. He simply nodded his head in agreement.

Without another word they began walking back the way they came. Ash enjoyed the time he was spending with Mahiru. It may not have been anything more than sitting, talking, walking, repeat, but as long as it was with Mahiru he enjoyed it. Ash glanced at Mahiru out of the corner of his eye. He liked Mahiru more than anything. He didn't want to spend a single second away from the human. As they got closer and closer to the entrance of the park, he became more and more afraid that he'd never see Mahiru again. There was a possibility that Mahiru didn't have a good time at all and he was just being polite. If that was the case then Mahiru might refuse to hang out with him again. Ash wanted to do whatever he could to get Mahiru to like him. The problem with that, though, was that Ash didn't even like himself. Ash dropped his head down and stared at the ground as he walked alongside Mahiru.

Mahiru happily pet Kuro on the head as the cat purred in his arms. He certainly did enjoy his time at the park with Ash, but he wasn't sure if Ash did. Glancing over to the hooded man, Mahiru noticed he had his head down. He had to admit that he found Ash to be interesting. Mahiru wanted to know more about him, a lot more. He just seemed so mysterious to Mahiru. It was interesting to Mahiru that he met someone that was so similar, yet so different to him. Neither of them had parents in their lives and they both loved cats to the point of a possible obsession, but Mahiru liked the outdoors while Ash preferred to stay inside. Mahiru goes to a normal high school and Ash was home schooled. Only child, eight siblings. Never had a pet, has a pet cat. Mahiru didn't mind their differences, in fact, he liked them. It was a good opportunity for Mahiru to see a different perspective.

The entrance to the park was in sight as they reached the beginning of the path. Mahiru turned to Ash.

“Let's walk home together! Do you live far?” Mahiru suggested.

“Oh, uh, yeah. I live all the way on the south end of town. I could walk with you to your place, though.” Ash said.

“Sure! Sounds good.” Mahiru replied with a smile.

Ash was happy that he would get to see where Mahiru lived. He wondered what it looked like. It got him thinking about Mahiru’s room. What kind of stuff did he have? It was probably a clean room, unlike Ash’s bedroom. Mahiru seemed like the type to be responsible and organized so his room was probably very tidy. Ash felt embarrassed over his own room. Unless it got thoroughly cleansed he would never want Mahiru to see it. All the clothes strewn about and the disorganization of his possessions was just a mess. He was afraid if Mahiru did see it then he'd never want anything to do with Ash again.

They passed through the entrance of the park and came to the parking lot. It felt like a weight was lifted from Ash’s shoulders. The air wasn't thick and suffocating anymore. He didn't realize how the air in the park made him feel until he was out of it. It was like breathing became easier and the wind actually felt nice and cool. Ash wondered if Mahiru had noticed the same change. He could see that Kuro looked more relaxed in Mahiru’s arms than before so at least Kuro felt it too.

“I'll lead the way to my place.” Mahiru decided.

Ash nodded and followed slightly behind Mahiru as they both started to leave the parking lot.

“Hey, this was fun.” Mahiru said.

“Yeah.” Ash replied.

“Heh, we didn't really do much, but it was nice to walk around and talk. I'm glad I finally got to see the campsite too. I usually go to the park alone so it was a nice change of pace to have someone with me. Thanks for inviting me, Ash!” Mahiru told him and smiled.

Ash blushed and looked away.

“Uh, y-yeah… Thanks for… Thanks for coming out here… with me.” Ash nervously responded.

“We should hang out again, maybe do something different.” Mahiru suggested.

Ash flinched. Mahiru wanted to see him again. He wanted to keep spending time with Ash. Mahiru wasn't scared off or disinterested or anything like that. He actually wanted to continue being around Ash. It made his stomach knot up and Ash felt like he wanted to puke, but in a good way. If throwing up in a good way was even possible.

“Yeah… I'd like that.” Ash muttered.

“My friends and I always hang out after school everyday so you could join us for that. In fact, tomorrow is my turn to pick what we do! Would you like to come with? I don't know yet what I'll suggest, though.” Mahiru offered.

After school? Ash let that sit around in his head for a moment until it finally clicked in his mind. He didn't know how he missed it. None of it seemed to register earlier since he didn't pay enough attention. All the dots connected and something dawned on Ash. Mahiru was a high schooler, meaning he was a teenager, meaning that even physically he was younger than Ash. He sort of assumed that already considering Mahiru was shorter than him and he didn't necessarily consider himself to be tall, but he never actually thought about how old Mahiru was. If he was in high school then he had to be between fourteen and eighteen. That wasn't an issue, it wasn't an issue at all. Right? It might not have been one five centuries ago, but things have changed a lot since Ash was originally eighteen. Mahiru didn't seem to have a problem hanging out with someone older than him who's supposedly already ‘graduated’, but Ash’s intentions were more than just to hang out. Of course, if things did go Ash’s way, being in an actual intimate relationship with Mahiru probably wouldn't happen for a long time. Mahiru would be older by then, so it wouldn't be a problem. In fact, with enough time Mahiru would end up much older than Ash on a physical level. Ash shook his head. It wasn't a problem. Not a problem at all. He was worrying about things he didn't need to worry about. Ash realized he never actually had the opportunity to act like a normal teenager when he was one, so being around Mahiru and his friends might give him that chance. Ash finally noticed Mahiru staring at him with a confused expression.

“Oh! U-uh, yeah! Sounds fun. I'd like that.” Ash quickly responded.

Mahiru sighed and smiled at Ash. He wasn't sure what Ash was thinking so hard about, but he was nonetheless glad that Ash agreed to join them tomorrow.

“Great! School gets out at twelve-fifty and we always leave right from school to hang out. If it's not too much to ask, can you meet us at school?” Mahiru informed him.

“Yeah, sure.” Ash agreed and nodded.

“Wait, you know where the high school is, right?” Mahiru asked.

“Uh… yeah. I was homeschooled, not locked in my house for eighteen years.” Ash answered.

Mahiru laughed at his response. “Okay, just making sure. Heh.”

Ash realized that came off as a bit snarky. He was glad Mahiru took it as a joke and not the other way around. He didn't mean for it to sound like that, he just wasn't one for making jokes sound like actual jokes and not sarcasm.

Mahiru suddenly came to a stop and turned around. Ash looked up and noticed they were in front of an apartment complex. They were finally at Mahiru’s home. He felt a little disappointed over not being able to see a house. At least that way Ash could get a generalization on what Mahiru’s home was like. Then again, considering how run down Ash’s house looked on the outside, he didn't want Mahiru using that as a point of reference. Books and covers and judging and all that, or whatever that saying was.

“So, uh, this is my place.” Mahiru said.

Ash nodded and the two stood there for a moment in awkward silence. There was a tiny part inside of Ash that hoped Mahiru would invite him inside.

“I guess I should give Kuro back.” Mahiru muttered.

They both looked down at the fluffy cat laying in Mahiru’s arms. His head was down and his eyes were closed. Ash would have believed Kuro was asleep if the cat’s tail wasn't twitching ever so slightly. He looked like he was in cat heaven. It made Ash a bit jealous of his pet. To be held in Mahiru’s arms and have his head pat, it sounded wonderful to Ash. It made him wish he could turn into a cat and get Mahiru to pet him. Then he'd be able to curl up in Mahiru’s lap, rub up against his leg, maybe lick his finger. Ash blushed and shook his head. No, that was weird. He shouldn't think like that. That was a little bit too creepy sounding. He wasn't allowed to be creepy. Creepy would scare off Mahiru.

“Ash?” Mahiru called out, holding Kuro up to Ash’s face.

Ash flinched and realized Kuro was extremely close to him. Kuro wiggled a paw out at Ash.

“Mrow.”

Ash couldn't deny how cute Kuro looked. He grabbed a hold of Kuro so he could take his cat back. Ash’s hands sort of went over Mahiru’s hands since Kuro had such a small body. He blushed again and wanted to scream. His hands were on top of Mahiru’s. It was like they were holding hands in a way. Ash quickly pulled Kuro away. Any longer with that and Ash might've fainted. Ash sighed and held Kuro in his arms the same way Mahiru did. Kuro groaned and adjusted himself until he was in a comfortable position. Mahiru smiled and pet Kuro on the head.

“Thank you for coming too, Kuro! I hope you had fun! I can't wait to see you again! No I can't! No I can't~! Haha.” Mahiru baby talked to Kuro.

Kuro let out a very annoyed meow.

“Well, I'll see you tomorrow then.” Mahiru said.

“Yeah, tomorrow.” Ash muttered.

Mahiru turned around to start walking to the front door of the apartment complex. He looked over his shoulder and waved at Ash.

“Bye, Ash! Bye, Kuro!” Mahiru called out.

“Uh, yeah! Bye… Mahiru!” Ash shouted and waved back.

Mahiru disappeared inside the building and Ash continued to stand there for a moment. Ash stared down at the pavement of the sidewalk.

“Can't deal… Can't deal! Can't deal! Can't deal!” Ash shouted, making a few people walking by stare at him.

He stomped a foot on the ground and his whole body tensed up. Kuro lifted his head up to stare at his owner. He let out a meow to get the man’s attention. Ash heard him, but didn't react to it. He couldn't stop thinking about Mahiru. Now that Mahiru was gone, Ash became overcome with a feeling of loneliness. Sure, he had Kuro with him, but Mahiru was who he wanted to be with. He got to know a lot about Mahiru just from being at the park with him and talking for a while. He wanted to run after Mahiru and grab him and never let go. He didn't want to be left alone after he felt so, so happy with Mahiru. Being with Mahiru, he didn't feel any kind of loneliness. He didn't want Mahiru to feel lonely either. Ash’s grip on Kuro tightened a bit and he clenched his eyes shut.

“Kuro…” Ash muttered.

“Mrow?”

“...I'm in love with him…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please help Ash. He is struggling. The struggle has never been more real than now.
> 
> Oh, and when Ash asks "Ya like cats?" I can't help but think of the 'Ya like jazz?' meme XD It's stupid, I know. But it's also hilarious.


	4. All Of Love, The Exhibitionist

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had a really funny Lily joke, but it didn't fit in the scene properly so I cut it out and put it in the title instead. Tbh, the title was actually gonna go to Koyuki and I feel bad that Lily stole his place in the spotlight now... (´･_･`)  
>    
> Anyway, anyone see that movie trailer posted on Valentine's Day(aka Misono’s birthday) because I was scREAMING OVER MIKUNI AND JEJE AND I TOOK SO MANY SCREENSHOTS OF MY BOYS!!! GOD I JUST LOVE THEM SO MUCH (///▽///) Envy Pair is best pair and I will fight everyone in their defense!! ヽ(｀Д´)ﾉ
> 
> Sorry, sorry! Talking about other characters in a Sloth Pair zone probably isn't a good idea. Please, ignore my rambling and continue on with the shipping~

“Uncle! You home now?” Mahiru called out.

As usual, it was quiet in the apartment. Mahiru sighed as he shut the door and walked into the living room. He was still home alone, even after being gone for a few hours. Mahiru went into the kitchen, deciding to get something to eat. He sifted around in the cabinets and in the fridge. The only thing he could find that he wanted to eat was some leftover rice from yesterday. He put it in the fridge in case his uncle wanted it, but since it was still there it meant his uncle hadn't been home. Mahiru decided to take it for himself. He put it in a bowl and placed it in the microwave. While he waited he checked his phone. It was a bit past five. As he held his phone in his hand, something dawned on him.

“Oh man! I should've taken pictures of Kuro when I had the chance!” Mahiru exclaimed.

He totally forgot he could have done that. He regretted not realizing it soon enough. The microwave beeped and Mahiru took the bowl of rice out. He placed it on the table, grabbed a fork, and got himself a glass of orange juice. He sat down at the table and started eating.

The apartment was quiet other than the sound of Mahiru’s fork clinking against the bowl every so often. He thought about turning the television on just to have some noise, but he really didn't have it in him to get up from the table. He took a sip of his orange juice and as he put the glass down on the table it was like the noise of it echoed in the apartment. Mahiru just continued eating.

After a few minutes, Mahiru focused his attention on the chair that was across from him at the table. Just like almost every other day, that chair was empty. He was sitting at the table alone, no one else in the apartment, and the chair without another person in it. Mahiru placed his fork in the bowl and let go of it, crossing his arms on the table. He wasn't hungry anymore. Instead he drank the rest of his orange juice and stood up. He took the fork out of the bowl, picked up his empty glass, and brought them over to the sink where he washed them. After drying them off he put the glass in the cabinet and the fork in the drawer. He went back over to the table and picked up the bowl. It still had a small amount of rice left so he brought the bowl with him to the balcony. He opened the sliding glass door, moved the curtain, and stepped out. He looked around the small balcony and out at the sky. He bent down and put the bowl on the ground in the corner of the balcony. He stood back up and looked around again.

“I brought some food! ...It's rice!” Mahiru called out.

He waited and got nothing but silence. He backed up into the apartment and left the glass door open, but closed the curtain. He walked away by a few steps, but immediately whirled around and ran back out on the balcony.

“Gotcha!” Mahiru shouted.

There was nothing there. Mahiru sighed and went back inside, closing the curtain again. He sat down on the couch and felt something vibrate in his pocket. He pulled out his phone to check it. Koyuki was calling him so he answered it.

“Hey.” Mahiru greeted.

“Hey, Mahiru! Are you home?” Koyuki asked.

“Yeah.” Mahiru replied.

“Okay, good! You should go open your front door.” Koyuki suggested.

Mahiru looked confused and glanced at the door to his apartment.

“Um… why?” He questioned.

“Because I want you to open your door. Please! For your buddy!” Koyuki begged.

Mahiru sighed and got up off the couch. “Okay, fine.”

He made his way to the front door and opened it. To his shock, Mahiru saw Koyuki standing there. He waved at Mahiru.

“Hey! Can I come in?” Koyuki asked, his voice echoing in Mahiru’s phone.

“What the hell!? Koyuki, what are you doing here!? What if I wasn't home yet!?” Mahiru shouted and hung up his phone.

“Well, it's a good thing you are. I wanted to ask how your time at the park with Ash went.” Koyuki explained with an innocent smile on his face.

Despite not getting an answer, Koyuki went ahead and walked into Mahiru’s apartment. He sat down on the couch and Mahiru reluctantly followed suit.

“I really can't believe you just showed up like this.” Mahiru muttered.

“I'm not being a bother, am I?” Koyuki wondered.

“No, no. You're not.” Mahiru reassured his friend.

“Good! Sooo, how did it go?” The taller boy asked.

“W-what do you mean how did it go!? We hung out at the park! There's not much else to it!” Mahiru tried to explain.

“No, Mahiru. I want the details. What exactly did you guys do? Did you talk about stuff? What did he say to you? I want to know everything.” Koyuki practically interrogated his friend.

Mahiru sighed and gave in.

“Alright, alright. Geez. We just walked and talked.”

“What did you talk about?”

“Cats, the myths about the park, ourselves.”

“I need more details than that, Mahiru.”

“Ugh, you are _killing_ me Koyuki… Okay, fine, you win. He's eighteen, he's home schooled, he's open-minded to supernatural stuff, he doesn't care about history, all of him and his siblings have different moms, his mom is deceased, his is dad is apparently gone, and he probably knows more about cats than me.”

“Wait, seriously? Heh, I don't know where to start with all that. I guess the homeschooling thing explains why I've never seen him at school before. So, what do you think of him then?”

“What… do I think of him…?”

Mahiru stared at Koyuki, who nodded at him. It took him awhile to come up with an answer.

“Um… I think he's mysterious.” Mahiru answered.

Koyuki laughed. “Hahaha! He's mysterious? Haha!”

“No, I really mean that! Sure, he talked about himself when I asked stuff, but I could tell that he didn't really like talking about himself. He was really shy too, and maybe a little bit skittish. He's definitely introverted… I think he might be a shut-in.” Mahiru clarified.

“Wow. He sounds like the opposite of you.” Koyuki said.

“Ugh, well what are you getting at? Do you not like him?” Mahiru questioned.

Koyuki looked a bit surprised.

“Oh, no! Not at all. You know I don't dislike anyone, Mahiru. I'm just finding this fun is all. We're friends, I just want to know how your date went.” Koyuki said.

Mahiru flinched and stared at Koyuki with wide eyes.

“Wait a minute!! Koyuki! Do you think I went on a date with him!?” Mahiru frantically shouted.

“You mean you didn't? But you went to the park. Alone. Together.” Koyuki stated.

“And you and Ryusei went to lunch! Alone! Together! Just because it's two people and no one else doesn't mean it's a date! I mean, sure, we went to the campsite together, but that was kind of an accident!” Mahiru defended.

“Woah, woah, woah, woah, woah!! You and him, alone, went to the campsite. The place that everyone at school goes to for dates. The place that if you're seen there alone, everyone laughs at you. The place where the invite-only alcohol parties are held by the popular kids. At that point, Mahiru, whether you wanted it to be or not, it was a date. You and Ash went on a date.” Koyuki argued.

“No, Koyuki! Both people have to know and agree to it being date or it's not a date! He invited me to hang out, not to go on a date! And his cat was with us, too! So we weren't alone.”

“Was the cat your chaperone?”

“Oh my god, Koyuki. I-I can't keep doing this. It wasn't a date. We did _not_ go on a date. There was no romantic interest _anywhere_ between us. It was just two guys going to the park together.”

“Do you want there to be romantic interest?”

Mahiru fell silent and unbeknownst to him, he went into denial.

“Koyuki. Other than today, I've only met the guy twice. He seems nice, I like him, I want to know more about him... I want to keep his cat... but that's it.” He denied.

“Do you think he's cute?” Koyuki asked.

“Koyuki!!” Mahiru screeched.

Koyuki flinched. “Eep! Okay, okay. I'm done. I'll stop asking.”

Mahiru sighed. “Why are you even questioning about my supposed ‘love life’ anyway?”

“Because I love love! And for as long as I've known you you've never expressed interest in anyone. I don't want you to become old and alone with twenty cats. I just want you to be happy.” Koyuki answered.

“Twenty!? What happened to ten? Ugh, either way, it’s none of your business.” Mahiru responded.

Koyuki whined.

“Aaaanyway… I invited Ash to hang out with us after school.” Mahiru informed him.

“Oooh, really? Tomorrow is your turn to pick. What do you want to do tomorrow?” Koyuki asked.

“Hmm… I don't know yet. I think I'll sleep on it before I decide.” Mahiru responded.

It was quiet between the friends for a moment until the front door opened.

“Mahiru! I'm home!”

Mahiru looked over his shoulder to see his uncle walk into the living room. His face lit up with a bright smile.

“Uncle Toru! Welcome home!” Mahiru greeted.

“Hi Mr. Toru!” Koyuki greeted as well.

Mahiru got up and ran over to hug his uncle. Toru hugged his nephew back and ruffled the boy’s hair.

“Well, well, well. Hey there, Koyuki. Haven't seen you in awhile. So what are ya boys doing?” Toru inquired.

“We're talking about Mahiru’s love life!” Koyuki answered.

Mahiru yelped and frantically glared at Koyuki.

“No! We are _not_! Koyuki’s being delusional, Uncle! Just ignore him.” Mahiru protested.

Toru stared at the two teens.

“Mahiru has a love life?” He wondered.

Koyuki laughed and Mahiru groaned.

“Ignoring the insult, no. I don't and I don't want one.” Mahiru stated in a harsh tone.

“Aw, Mahiru. I don't want you to be alone with nothing but cats when you're older.” Toru said.

“Not you too!!” Mahiru groaned.

Koyuki and Toru laughed at Mahiru. Koyuki then stood up from the couch.

“Welp, I guess I should head home now.” He said.

“Oh, okay. Well, I'll see you at school tomorrow.” Mahiru said.

The two teens walked to the door together and Mahiru opened it for his friend.

“Yep. Bye Mahiru, bye Mr. Toru.” Koyuki waved goodbye as he stepped out.

“Bye.” They both replied.

Mahiru closed the door and sighed. He may have been happy to see his friend, but he was also glad Koyuki was finally gone. He didn't want to keep discussing his make believe ‘love life’, especially not with his uncle now home. He couldn't help but think back on what Koyuki said, though. It couldn't have been a date. Mahiru knew that wasn't his own intentions and it couldn't have Ash’s either. Right? Well, Ash did blush a lot around him, but Mahiru assumed that was because he was shy. Ash did stutter quite a bit too. That had to be it. Ash was just extremely shy. He did prefer the indoors and played video games. People like that tended to be shy.

“Hey Mahiru, you eat yet?” Toru asked.

“Huh? Oh, yeah. Just a little bit ago.” Mahiru answered.

“Aw, sorry I didn't get home sooner then.” Toru apologized as he walked into the kitchen.

“Oh, it's fine. No worries.” Mahiru said with a fake smile.

There was a sudden sound out on the balcony and Mahiru practically sprinted for his life past the curtain.

“Ah hah!! ...Huh?” Mahiru exclaimed.

The moment he pushed the curtain aside something black disappeared out of the corner of his eye. The bowl of rice he left on the ground was tipped over and rolling on its side slightly. Not a single piece of rice was left in it. Mahiru let out a sigh of defeat. He bent down to pick up the bowl and walked back into the apartment. He closed the glass door and fixed the curtain. Toru, who was now looking around in the fridge, glanced over to his nephew. Mahiru brought the bowl to the sink to wash it out.

“Still trying to catch that neighborhood stray?” Toru wondered.

“Uh, yeah. Something like that.” Mahiru replied as he dried off the bowl.

“It'll trust ya eventually, Mahiru. I know it.” Toru tried to reassure the boy.

Mahiru nodded and put the bowl away in the cabinet.

“So what did ya do today?” His uncle asked.

“Oh, nothing much. Went to the park for a little while with a new friend.” Mahiru replied.

“Ya did? Oooh, so is that why you and Koyuki were discussing your love life?” Toru inquired.

Mahiru flinched and made stuttering noises like he was trying to get a word out, but couldn't.

“I'm not interested in him like that!” Mahiru blurted out.

Toru just stared at his nephew for a moment. Mahiru realized what he said and immediately put a hand over his mouth.

“Mahiru, you know you can like whoever you wanna. There's nothing wrong with it. If ya like this guy-”

“I know that!! We had this discussion when I came out, geez! But it's not like that! I mean, sure, I like him as a person, but it’s not- not like… _that_! Am I not allowed to just be friends with other guys now!?” Mahiru interrupted, being a little more defensive than he expected himself to be.

“No, no. That's not it. I just want ya to know that you don't have to be afraid to admit it if that is the case. Either way, I'm glad to hear ya made a new friend. What's he like? He someone from school?” Toru responded.

Mahiru looked away. “Um, no. He's a graduate, uh but, he was home schooled. I met him when I was out with Koyuki and Ryusei. He's… I think he's really shy. Oh, and he likes cat like I do. His name is Ash.”

Toru liked what he was hearing until Mahiru said his name was Ash. It made the man freeze. He wasn't entirely sure what to think. It could be a coincidence, but then it was possible that it wasn't either. He wanted to make sure his nephew wasn't in any danger.

“His… _name_ … is Ash?” Toru asked.

“Uh, yes. His name is Ash, so I'm pretty sure he's not Japanese if that's what you're getting at.” Mahiru clarified.

“Noo… That's not a problem.” Toru said.

He didn't want to press the matter any further in case he was wrong. He trusted Mahiru to have good judgement when it came to making new friends, so if Mahiru liked the guy then Toru didn't want to start an issue over it. As long as Mahiru was happy then he'd let it be. It still made him nervous though. He just hoped he wasn't putting Mahiru in danger by not doing anything about it.

Mahiru took notice of his uncle's silence. He couldn't figure out why his uncle was being so uncharacteristically quiet. Let alone why he was curious about Ash’s name. Mahiru didn't really want to keep talking about it anyway.

“I'm going to go to my room now.” Mahiru said.

“Oh… alright then.” Toru responded.

Mahiru made his way down the hall and to his bedroom. He opened the door, stepped inside, and shut it for the night.

Sleepy Ash finally got home. He opened the front door and walked into the house. He immediately wanted to head up to his room and fall asleep. He hadn't even been up for long, but he didn't have the energy to do half of what he already did today. He started to walk up the stairs when he heard footsteps coming out of the main room.

“Ash? Oh goodie, you're home!”

Ash looked down the stairs to see All Of Love standing in the hallway. He sighed, knowing going back to bed was no longer an option.

“Sis told me everything! How was your little date with Mahiru?” Love inquired.

Ash flinched before walking back down the stairs.

“I-It wasn't a date… We just hung out. I don't really wanna talk about it anyway.” Ash grumbled.

“What!? It didn't go bad, did it?” Love asked, sounding very worried.

“No, no… Surprisingly, I think it went great. He wants to hang out again tomorrow. I just- I'm tired, I walked a lot... I'm thinking too much right now… I just wanna go to bed.” Ash muttered.

“Oh, I suppose you do deserve a well earned rest. It's not often that you go out and socialize all on your own.” Love agreed.

Ash nodded and began to walk away to finally go upstairs. Ash paused and turned around on the steps.

“Hey, Love. Can I ask for your help with doing laundry tomorrow?” Ash requested.

All Of Love looked a bit surprised at his eldest brother’s request. Cleaning and asking for help wasn't all that normal for Ash, especially cleaning. Nonetheless, Love smiled and clapped his hands together.

“Of course! I'll make sure you're up in the morning so it can get done nice and early!” Love happily accepted.

Ash regretted asking. He didn't actually know how to do laundry and it was usually Love’s job to do it for the siblings that didn't know how to. That's why he asked the second youngest, but at the thought of getting up in the morning he wanted to go to sleep and never wake up. The decision was already made though, so he couldn't back out.

“Alright, thanks.” Ash reluctantly said.

Love watched as Ash disappeared up the stairs and to his room. The blonde returned to the main room where Old Child was sitting on the middle couch. All Of Love sat down to join him.

“I didn't miss anything, did I?” Love asked.

“No. It's still a commercial break.” Old Child answered.

It was quiet between them for a moment.

“Ash is home.” Love stated.

“So I heard.” The elder brother responded.

All Of Love looked at his tiny big brother. Something seemed off to the blonde. It wasn't normal for Old Child not to be excited over Ash’s presence. He didn't know if something happened between them and Old Child was just upset at Ash, but it worried him. He wanted to try doing something about it.

“Um… are you doing okay, Old Child.” Love questioned.

“Yes. Just fine.” Old Child replied.

The way the elder brother said it was very serious and flat. Like he was trying to make it known that he really wasn't doing fine. He didn't even look away from the television. Love desperately wanted to say something more, but without knowing what the issue was he couldn't think of what to say. He just sighed and gave up even trying.

Upstairs in his room, Ash was leaning against his door and staring blankly at the floor. Kuro jumped down and sat in front of his owner. Ash crouched down to pet Kuro on the head.

“Ya think it went well? I mean, I know he wants to hang out tomorrow, but… I dunno…” Ash grumbled, unable to figure what he was trying to say.

Kuro meowed at him several times, like the cat was trying to explain something to Ash.

“I wish I could speak cat. I think I'm pretty good at understanding you, but when you just meow like that I have no idea what you're saying. I know you're talking and I know it must be something important. I'm sorry I can't understand you, Kuro.” Ash said.

Kuro shook his head, letting Ash know there was nothing to be apologizing for. He knew other cats couldn't understand humans so Kuro was just glad he could understand them. Even if Kuro’s words couldn't reach Ash, it didn't matter to him. He didn't think anything he had to say was all that important in the first place. Although, sometimes he wished he could slap Ash across the face and tell him to stop being so stupid. Kuro actually wasn't sure what he was claiming Ash to be stupid about. He thought it was stupid that Ash had fallen for a human, but he also thought it was stupid that Ash couldn't tell Mahiru how he felt. Then again, Kuro was just a cat. The issue didn't have anything to do with him and he placed his position as a pet first and foremost. Even if he hated said term.

Ash stood up and walked to his bed, sitting down on the edge of it. He lazily slipped his boots off and laid down on his bed. Kuro jumped up on the bed and curled up next to Ash’s pillow.

“Not gonna sleep in your own bed?” Ash asked.

“Meow.”

Ash took that as a no. He rubbed behind Kuro’s ear and pulled his blanket over himself. He adjusted his body until he was comfortable and closed his eyes. He cleared his mind until it was blank and just laid there, trying to fall asleep. He was silent and still for a few minutes, then several, then a whole hour. He finally opened his eyes again, realizing going to sleep just wasn't going to happen. He glanced at Kuro. The cat seemed like he was asleep and if he was then Ash didn't want to wake him just to find out. Kuro wasn't a light sleeper, so Ash didn't see a problem in getting out of bed and walking over to his desk. He picked up one of his handheld systems and got back in bed. Ash played his game throughout the night and as the sun rose again. He got so caught up in it that he didn't realize it was already morning until he heard a knock on his door.

“Oh Aaash! Wakey, wakey!”

Sleepy Ash groaned and closed his system. He could tell it was All Of Love by the annoyingly cheerful tone in his voice. He slowly got out of bed and trudged over to the door. Ash opened it to see Love standing there with a happy smile on his face. It was too bright for Ash to look at, especially since he was just staring at the bright screen of his game for who knows how long. He rubbed his eyes with the edge of his jacket sleeves.

“Ash, you need to stop sleeping fully dressed.” Love advised.

“Too much work… Ugh, what time is it?” Ash groaned.

“It's nine o’clock.” The blonde answered.

“Can't deaaal… Why'd it have to be so early?” Ash complained, almost sounding like he wanted to cry.

“Nine is not early, Ash. I woke up at six. I waited to get you up so you'd have some extra time to sleep in.” Love argued.

“I didn't sleep…” Ash quietly stated.

Love's smile disappeared.

“We don't have to do laundry if you don't want to then.” Love suggested.

Ash shook his head. “I gotta get it done sooner rather than later.”

Something dawned on Love.

“Oooooh~ You want to impress Mahiru, don't you?” Love teased.

Ash went wide eyed.

“Noooo… No, no, no, no. No! Noooo!!” He protested.

All Of Love got a wide smile on his face and started giggling. Before Ash could react, Love hugged him and began bouncing up and down.

“Ash wants to improve himself so Mahiru will like him! Hehehe~!” Love cheered.

“No! Stop! Please! Can't deal!” Ash groaned.

He was too lazy to do anything other than complain and beg. Love suddenly pulled away but kept his hands on Ash’s shoulders.

“We'll get laundry done then you'll have lots of nice clothes to wear so you'll look good for Mahiru!” Love said with great determination.

“That's not- ugh… Fine, it might be part of the reason…” Ash half admitted and removed Love's hands from his shoulders.

“So, may I enter your room?” Love requested.

“I know I don't let people in my room, but you don't have to ask permission like that every time.” Ash said as he stepped aside so his brother could come in.

“It's only polite.” Love stated.

The blonde stepped inside his brother's room and immediately froze upon seeing how messy it was.

“Ash! When did this happen?” He questioned.

Ash closed his door and turned around. He looked around the room and simply shrugged his shoulders. He realized yesterday how bad his room looked so looking at it now didn't really affect him.

“Um… I dunno. It just sorta… happened.” Ash responded.

“Ah, well… At least something’s being done about it now. So, where's your laundry basket?” Love inquired.

Ash stared at the closet. He really didn't know. Last time he saw the basket it was in front of his closet. He remembered throwing dirty clothes in it and he was sure he never moved it so it had to still be in his room. He walked over to the large pile of clothes and hesitated before kicking some stuff off to the side. Underneath the pile he saw white plastic poking out.

“Found it.” Ash announced.

He grabbed onto it and pulled it out from under the dirty clothes. It was a large basket, but much more wide than tall. Both brothers could tell the basket wouldn't be enough for all of Ash’s clothes.

“Well, I did except this to take more than one load of laundry. Is this all your clothes?” Love questioned, pointing at the pile.

“Uh, yeah. Everything I have is on the floor. The stuff I'm wearing is all that was left in the closet. Oh, and my usual outfit is still on my bed I think.” Ash answered.

Love looked over to Ash’s bed. “We should wash your sheets too.”

Ash groaned lightly.

“Ash! We might as well get it done since we're washing everything. Now let's start putting it all in the basket.” Love said.

Ash groaned again, but dropped the basket on the floor. He got down on his knees next to it and started haphazardly grabbing bunches of clothes and tossing them in the basket. Love walked over to the pile and bent down. He began picking up the clothes closer to the closet doors by the edges one by one and placing them in the basket as well. It was a few minutes later when the pile in the basket was getting too tall so Ash opted to stand up instead. There was a shirt part way in the closet that Love had to scoot closer to in order to pick it up. Thin, long legs started crawling out of the closet in front of him. It took Love a second to realize what it was. A spider. Not an itsy bitsy one, but certainly nothing close to the size of a tarantula either. Of course, the size of it didn't matter to Love. The fact that he was staring at one at all was enough to make him freeze with pure terror.

“A-a-a-a-a… _Aaaaaaaaahhh_!!”

The scream almost didn't register to Ash. It was so high pitch and he wasn't entirely sure if Love was screaming his name, or just screaming. The scream didn't actually startle him, but Love running at him and clinging onto him did. The blonde almost tried climbing up Ash and even managed to get one leg around Ash’s waist. Ash wasn't anywhere near close to falling, but in a desperate attempt to get his little brother to calm down, Ash grabbed onto Love. In response, Love wrapped his arms around Ash’s head. To make the situation worse, Ash’s bedroom door burst open and Doubt Doubt quickly stepped inside. He was pointing a gun, seemingly a rifle, right at Ash. The suddenness of it scared Ash far more than the gun itself.

“Put it down! There's no danger. I dunno what he's freakin’ out over.” Ash ordered, sounding annoyed.

“Sp-sp-spi-spi-s-s-spiiiiideeer!!” Love barely managed to say while shaking like a leaf and pointing at the closet.

Doubt put his gun down at his side and just stared at his two brothers. Ash simply groaned.

“Really?” The elder two said at the same time.

“Y-y-yeees!!” Love whined.

Kuro, who had woken up when Love screamed, jumped off the bed. He calmly made his way across the room as the three brothers watched him. Spotting the spider crawling around on the carpet, Kuro readied himself to pounce and jumped on the spider. He easily caught it and ate it like it was a treat. Satisfied, Kuro sat down and meowed. The brothers stared at him in disbelief.

“Eeeeeewww!! Kuro!” Love exclaimed.

“...Gross…” Doubt muttered.

“He's a cat. It may be gross, but if he wants to eat the bugs let him eat the bugs. At least it gets them out of my room.” Ash stated in Kuro’s defense.

The small cat looked back over to the closet. He crept inside and started rummaging around.

“Ohhh, Kuro! Don't eat more!” Love protested.

“Would you like to see more spiders instead?” The eldest questioned.

Love flinched. “N-no…”

“Then let him be and get off me.” Ash demanded.

Love dropped down to the floor and nervously looked around for any other creepy crawlies. Doubt Doubt walked up beside him and nudged the blonde in the arm. Love looked over at the taller male.

“I-I'm okay, Doubt. Really. It's gone, there's nothing to worry about anymore. I'll be just fine… Ehehe…” Love said with a smile and a nervous giggle.

“Why are you… in here?” Doubt asked.

“I'm helping Ash with laundry. It's turning out to be a bigger process than I expected. I mean, really Ash, when was the last time your laundry was done?” Love turned around and questioned the eldest.

Ash just shrugged. “I really have no idea.”

Doubt looked at the pile of clothes on the floor. Half of them were in the basket, which was already overflowing, and the other half was still all over the floor. Inside the closet it was basically nothing but hangers and Kuro’s tail was sticking out.

“...How do you... live like this?” Doubt questioned.

“I dunno, geez. Can everyone stop judging and just help?” Ash grumbled.

“That's a perfect idea! Doubt, you should help!” Love cheerfully suggested.

The blonde latched onto Doubt’s arm and he tensed up, both because it was physical contact and it was contact specifically from All Of Love. Since it was a negative and a positive it made Doubt very conflicted on how to react, so he just stood there like he was frozen.

“Doubt doesn't have to help if he doesn't wanna.” Ash stated.

“Nonsense! It would be a nice bonding moment for the three of us!” Love claimed.

A sudden loud crunch sound made the brothers flinch. Kuro walked out of the closet and they could see he was chewing on something a bit bigger than a spider or silverfish. There was even an antenna poking out of his mouth.

“Okay, I don't even wanna know what that one was.” Ash said and looked away.

“Gross, gross, gross, gross, gross!” Love shouted and grabbed onto Doubt, hiding his face in the taller brother’s chest so he wouldn't have to see.

“I'll help.” Doubt immediately stated at an uncharacteristically normal volume, which was considered loud for him.

Kuro finished eating whatever disgusting monstrosity he found in the closet and sat down at Ash’s feet, letting out a meow. Ash crouched down and hesitated before petting Kuro on the head.

“Ya get all those creepy freeloaders outta there, did ya? Good boy. Uh, go find a way to wash your mouth out though, I don't want you licking me or anything else after that.” Ash advised.

Kuro meowed in agreement and made his way out of the bedroom through the door Doubt left open. All Of Love let go of Doubt and even though the elder brother had his face covered, it was still obvious to tell that he was saddened by it.

“Okay, here's how we'll do this! Doubt, you can get all the stuff from his bed. Ash, you can carry everything that won't fit in the basket. And I'll carry the basket!” Love decided.

Without a word, Ash went back to the pile and started trying to stack as much as he could into the basket.

“Ash, no! It's not fair that way. Besides, there's no way all of that will fit. It'll fall over like that. Take some of it off.” Love ordered.

Ash groaned and lazily slid half of the overflowing clothes back onto the floor. Love just sighed and Doubt shook his head. The third eldest walked over to Ash’s bed, placed his gun on the nightstand, and began picking up the sheets. He felt kind of weird about it and was surprised Ash wasn't protesting over someone else messing with his bed.

“Why do you have so many clothes in the first place? Not even Law or I have this much, and I don't think I've seen you wear most of this.” Love inquired as he walked back over to the basket.

“I never got rid of stuff.” Ash answered and scooped up clothes in his arms.

“Okay, wait. Stop.” Love announced.

Doubt looked over his shoulder for a moment and Ash dropped everything he picked up.

“You mean to tell me, you have clothes in here that are over five hundred years old!? Aaaash! That's just hoarding!” Love scolded.

“...I can't bring myself to get rid of stuff from back then…” Ash muttered.

Love sighed. “Alright, change of plans. Ash, make a pile of everything you want to get rid of and everything you want to keep. We'll wash the things you keep.”

Ash stared at his little brother with wide eyes.

“N-no way! It's my stuff. I don't have to get rid of anything.” Ash protested.

“Ash, remember Christmas eleven years ago? Getting rid of things helps you move on.” The blonde advised.

“I have nothing to move on from!” Ash denied.

“Stop lying to yourself.” Doubt muttered.

Ash glared at the third eldest and groaned. He didn't like being read by others so easily. Especially getting lectured about it too.

“Ash, you've already made progress, you know. You willing went out to the park all by yourself, you cleaned up nicely before you left, and now you want to take care of all your dirty clothes. I'm very proud of your progress, but it can't stop here.” Love said.

The eldest brother didn't want to believe that. He just wanted to stay stagnant for the rest of eternity. He didn't want to change, or make progress, or anything like that. But then how would he be able to get closer to Mahiru? That's all he could think about for the past few days. Getting Mahiru to like him as much as possible. For someone who seemed so together and mature and responsible, how could he like Ash, who was an insomniac slacker that played video games and hated going outside. Ash didn't want to change, and yet here he was anyway. Changing. Trying to take better care of himself to impress Mahiru.

Without a word, Ash crouched down and began sloppily tossing some of his oldest clothing across the room to make a throw away pile. All Of Love smiled as he watched his eldest brother get to work.

At school, Mahiru stared down at the textbook in front of him as he wrote down answers on a piece of paper. Ryusei and Koyuki were sitting across from him and eating their lunches. Ryusei had a school lunch while Koyuki had one from home. Sakuya walked up to their table and stood next to Mahiru. He flipped the textbook closed, which confused Mahiru until he realized what happened. With a frown on his face, the brunet jabbed his friend in the side.

“Ow! No need to get physical.” Sakuya whined as he sat down next to Mahiru.

“Well knock it off and I won't.” Mahiru said and flipped through his textbook to get to his lost spot.

Sakuya snickered and patted Mahiru on the shoulder. His hand lingered for a few moments too long before he finally pulled away.

“I'm just teasin’ is all. Lunch ain't really the place to do homework, ya know.” Sakuya told him.

“It's called being responsible and productive, unlike you. Why are you late to lunch anyway?” Mahiru asked.

“I skipped last period. Took me awhile to get back.” Sakuya answered.

“And where'd ya go this time?” Ryusei questioned.

“Just out with some people.” Sakuya replied.

“It's always ‘out with some people’. I'm beginning to doubt that there's actually any people.” Mahiru commented.

“Nu-uh! There’s people! Is it really so hard to believe that I have other friends besides you three?” Sakuya argued.

“Sometimes, yes.” Ryusei stated.

“Geez, some friends you guys are.” Sakuya grumbled and dropped his head down.

Koyuki slid a small bottle of chocolate milk across the table to Sakuya. He looked up and frowned at the younger brunet.

“Stop giving me stuff from your lunch everyday.” Sakuya said.

“I'll stop when you start bringing a lunch.” Koyuki told him with a determined expression.

“And I keep telling you I don't bring lunch and I don't buy lunch. That's just how it is.” Sakuya explained.

“Drink it, Sakuya.” Mahiru ordered.

Sakuya groaned, but complied anyway and opened the bottle to start drinking it.

“So, you guys hear the word goin’ around?” Ryusei started.

“I never hear any of the gossip around here.” Mahiru said.

“What is it? What is it?” Koyuki cheerfully asked.

“The seniors are doing another party at the campsite again and I hear the number of invites is bigger this time. There might finally be a chance for one of us to be invited!” Ryusei explained.

“Speak for yourselves. I've gotten invited to the last two so of course I'll be invited again.” Sakuya bragged as he put the bottle back down on the table.

“Phfft, yeah. As a third rate invite every time.” Ryusei mocked him.

“Better than no invite!” Sakuya claimed with a scowl on his face.

“Well count me out. You can keep trying to kiss up to seniors all you want while I enjoy staying home and partaking in non-illegal activities.” Mahiru said.

Sakuya put an arm around Mahiru’s shoulders and pulled his friend close. Mahiru was annoyed, but he let it happen anyway.

“Oh c’mon Mahiru, you've always wanted to see that campsite right? It's not like you'll ever go there on a date so the party's your only option.” Sakuya teased.

“Actually, I went there for the first time yesterday. With Ash.” Mahiru stated.

Sakuya froze. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. It wasn't true, it couldn't be true. He wanted to be the first person Mahiru went to the campsite with. Why couldn't it be him? Why did it have to be Ash? The lazy, annoying, uncaring, absolute jerk that was Tsubaki’s eldest brother. Sakuya wouldn't let himself be beat by a loser who was obviously hiding the truth from Mahiru. He couldn't let it happen.

“Oh, Mahiru! That reminds me! Don't you think there's something important you should tell Ryu and Sakuya?” Koyuki hinted.

Sakuya and Ryusei looked at Koyuki, then to Mahiru.

“K-Koyuki! Ugh… Fine. I invited Ash to join us after school today.” Mahiru admitted.

“Oh, cool. That'll be interesting.” Ryusei said.

Sakuya didn't think he could freak out anymore than he already was. Clearly he was just proven wrong. 

“U-u-uhhh… Are ya sure that's a good idea, Mahiru?” Sakuya questioned.

“Why would it not be? I'd say he and I get along nicely. Maybe you would get along with him well too if you took the time to make friends with him. There's no need to hate the guy just because he's better at video games than you.” Mahiru suggested.

Sakuya groaned at the thought of making nice with Ash. He didn't want to lie to Mahiru, so he opted to keep his mouth shut instead.

“Well, I can't wait! Have you decided on what we're going to do yet?” Koyuki wondered.

“Nope, still nothing. I'll come up with something before the end of the day, though.” Mahiru said.

The bell rang for lunch to end and the group got up from their table. Mahiru packed up his work and Ryusei and Koyuki threw away the remains of their lunches. Sakuya held onto the chocolate milk bottle since he wasn't finished drinking it. He was actually thankful to Koyuki for always feeding him, but he didn't like that it happened in the first place. Sakuya trailed a few feet behind his friends as they all walked to their next class together.

Sleepy Ash sat down on the floor of the laundry room with his game system in his hands. Doubt Doubt was sitting on the floor as well with his knees pulled close to his chest. There were a few inches between the brothers due to personal space issues with both of them. All Of Love was leaning against the wall near the dryer while waiting for the clothes inside to finish.

“I still can't believe it's that easy…” Ash muttered.

“And I still can't believe you didn't know that. Think you could do your own laundry from now on?” Love inquired.

“Can you write down an extremely detailed list of instructions?” Ash asked.

“Yes.” Love answered.

“Then we'll see.” Ash replied.

All Of Love sighed. He was looking for more of an actual confirmation on that.

“Perhaps you could do… Old Child’s laundry too…” Doubt quietly suggested.

“Now that's just asking for too much.” The eldest said.

Doubt Doubt sighed as well.

A dinging sound came from the dryer and it stopped shaking.

“Finally.” Ash said as he stood up and put his system in his pocket as far as it would go.

Love opened up the top of the dryer and pulled out the blanket to Ash’s bed. He held it out to Ash as the eldest walked up.

“Now fold it.” Love said.

“Ugh, you already made me fold everything else.” Ash complained.

“And this is the last of it so just power through it the best you can.” Love advised.

Upon grabbing the blanket, Ash couldn't believe what he was feeling. His blanket never felt so nice, and soft, and warm before. He immediately pressed his face into the blanket and moaned into the blue fabric. Love giggled at him.

“Is that enough incentive for you to do your laundry more often?” Love wondered.

“Ooooh-ho-ho-hooo~ Yeeeeees. Oh, I wanna go to sleep in nothing but this right now.” Ash said in a muffled voice due to the fabric.

“...Weird…” Doubt mumbled.

“Well, the quicker you fold it the quicker you can do just that.” The blonde said with a smile.

Without a moment’s hesitation, Ash began folding the blanket the best he could. It wasn't something he was properly taught to do, nor did he do it often, so the blanket was folded in a rather sloppy manner. Still, it was the best Ash could do and he did with surprising enthusiasm. Love grabbed the two pillow sheets from inside the dryer and placed them on top of the now folded blanket in Ash’s arms. Ash walked to the laundry basket and put the stuff in his arms on top of all his terribly folded clean clothes.

“Isn’t stuff supposed to be ironed too?” Ash wondered.

“Well, do you want it ironed?” Love asked.

“Oh hell no. That’d take forever. I just wasn't sure.” Ash refused as he picked up the basket.

“Heh. Do you need anymore help?” The younger brother asked.

“Nah, I got it from here. Thanks for the help. You too, Doubt.” Ash said and walked out of the laundry room.

“Happy to be of service!” Love called out.

Doubt stood up and began to walk out of the room.

“Thank you for helping out, Doubt! You know, I think you’ve made very nice progress of your own too!” Love complimented.

Doubt stopped and turned around to face his little brother.

“...Progress…?” He quietly repeated.

“Yes! You willing helped out Ash with laundry. It wasn't something huge and life changing, sure, but any tiny piece of progress eventually adds up to a whole lot! I'm very proud of you!” Love cheerfully said with a smile on his face.

Doubt tugged on the edge of his paper bag and started mumbling something that All Of Love couldn't hear. The blonde simply giggled and Doubt looked at him with a hidden curious expression.

“Maybe next we could work on getting you to speak louder. Oh, or being okay with showing your face like back then. Or! Being okay with physical contact from others! Or, or! Not being scared by loud noises!” Love suggested loudly, making Doubt tense up.

“Love…” 

“Yes?”

“ _You're_ being loud.”

All Of Love flinched and immediately shoved both his hands over his mouth.

“I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I was getting over excited! You know how I am when I'm over excited! I couldn't help it! I'm sorry! I know loud noises scare you and that wasn't my intention at all! I'm so sorry Dou-”

“You need to make progress too.” Doubt said loud enough to effectively interrupt Love.

“H-huh?”

“You help so much… so you have a reason… to keep going…” Doubt attempted to explain.

All Of Love fidgeted with his fingers and looked down at the floor. He didn't want to admit it, but Doubt was right. They were more than close enough for both of them to easily know that. Love let out a nervous giggle and put on a fake smile.

“I don't want my problems to seem more important than anyone else's.” Love said, refusing to discuss the matter.

“That's exactly it… You're too selfless… It's not going to get rid of any guilt you have… so let yourself be selfish once in awhile… You deserve it...” Doubt advised.

Without another word, the elder brother walked out of the room and All Of Love stood there in silence.

“I stopped caring about myself a long time ago. I just want to make everyone happy, no matter what I have to give.” Love whispered to himself.

Upstairs, Ash walked into his bedroom and kicked his door closed. He put the basket down on the floor. Kuro was curled up on Ash’s bed and lifted his head up when his owner walked in. The cat jumped off the bed and walked over to the basket to sniff it. The clothes lacked the familiar scent he was used to and he didn't like that, but he had to admit that the lavender fragrance he was smelling was nice. Still, he needed to remark it all as his and by extension, Ash’s. Kuro jumped on top of the pile so he could start rolling around, but the warmth from the blanket was too much. He laid still and began purring.

“K-Kuro! That stuff just got washed! I know it's super comfy, but you can't get fur all over it so soon!” Ash scolded as he picked up his cat.

Kuro whined over the loss of warmth as he was placed on the floor. The old carpet felt nowhere near as wonderful as the freshly washed blanket.

Ash picked the blanket up and set it on the bed so he could work on the clothes first. He pulled out his usual outfit consisting of his blue jacket, black shirt, and white pants, and also placed them all on the bed so he could change into them when he was done. He absolutely did not want to put all his laundry away, but he knew if he didn't do it now then it would never get done. It was the last part so he just had to power through it like Love said.

Ash dragged the basket over to the closet and tried to push open the folding doors. One of them opened up all the way, but the right one seemed jammed and wouldn't open more than halfway. He pushed on it a bit and heard a metallic snap as the door slid all the way to the side.

“...I hope that didn't break anything.” Ash muttered to himself.

Ash peeked inside closet just to make sure he couldn't see any broken pieces on the floor. There were shelves on the sides of the closet. He never really used them from what he could remember, so it confused him when he saw what looked like a scarf hanging halfway off one of the shelves. It must have been forgotten about for a long time if it didn't get washed with the rest of his clothes. He reached in and pulled it out. Upon looking at it in slightly better lighting, Ash tensed up and went wide eyed. The scarf was white with three extremely thin black lines going across one end to the other. Ash crouched down to the floor and gripped the scarf tightly to his chest.

_“Happy birthday, Sleepy. You're mother taught me how to sew, so I made this for you.”_

_“I don't want anything from a fake mother!”_

Kuro looked at his owner. He didn't know what was wrong with the man, but his keen animal senses were picking up a lot of negativity. The cat took a few steps forward, but stopped when Ash stood up.

“I have to get rid of it.” Ash mumbled.

He began walking to his bedroom door and was about to leave the room when something tugged on the other end of the scarf. He looked down to see Kuro holding the end in his mouth, stopping Ash from leaving.

“Let go of it, Kuro. You weren't around back then. You have no idea what this scarf means.” Ash ordered, tugging on the scarf.

“Mrw! Mrw, mrw, mrw, mrw!” Kuro’s meows were bit muffled from the scarf, but Ash wouldn't have been able to understand him either way.

“Getting rid of the old stuff will help me move on! I can't keep it!” Ash argued.

Kuro tried to pull the scarf back, but Ash kept a tight grip on the other end. Since they both were inhuman they were fairly matched in terms of raw strength, meaning they were at a stalemate if neither one of them wanted to risk tearing the scarf.

“Mrw mrw mrw! Mrw mrw!” Kuro continued to meow, apparently protesting Ash’s attempt to throw away the scarf.

“Whatever you're saying, I refuse!” Ash said.

They'd be stuck there forever if one of them didn't give up, but neither was okay with the other's decision so that wasn't an option. Ash wanted to get rid of it because of the memories associated with the scarf that he wanted to forget and move on from. Kuro didn't want Ash to do that because he believed that getting rid of everything was the same as running away and he wanted Ash to face his problems, not run from them.

Ash was the first to waiver. He wasn't determined enough in his choice to keeping fighting for it. There was a part of him that desperately wanted to keep the scarf anyway. He loosened his grip and as soon as Kuro stopped feeling a resistance, the cat stopped pulling as well. Ash dropped to his knees and let the scarf lay on the floor. Kuro walked up to his owner and sat in front of Ash. He meowed and nudged his nose against Ash’s knee as an apology. Ash was silent as he pet Kuro’s head and picked the scarf back up.

“...Old Child’s mother made it for me for my fourteenth birthday… I hated how much she tried to act like she was my mother… I wore it everyday after she went missing. I even wore it when I-...” Ash cut himself off, not wanting to hear those words come out of his own mouth.

Kuro didn't know what Ash was going to say. He'd never seen the scarf before so it clearly wasn't something he was in the family during. That didn't mean he wanted to know, though. Ash’s secrets were Ash’s secrets and Kuro’s secrets were Kuro’s. Granted, if he was able to Kuro would tell Ash everything. Sometimes one way communication felt like a curse to the cat. Being able to understand humans but not being able to speak back to them in a way they would understand was just part of his life now. It really worked against him in situations like this. He wanted to make Ash forget about the scarf for now. He had to remind his owner of what was really important at the moment. Even if Kuro didn't like it.

“Mah!”

Ash looked at Kuro in shock. That wasn't a meow he ever heard before. It reminded him of something.

“Oh crap! Mahiru! What time is it!?” Ash realized and sprung to his feet.

He scrambled around for his phone, looking everywhere for it. He pulled his game system out of one pocket and checked the other. Nothing. He checked his bed and picked up one of his pillows, finding his phone underneath it. He let out a sigh of relief and checked the time. It was half past eleven. He had a decent amount of time left. He groaned at the revelation that he still had to put his clothes away. Apparently Kuro came to the same conclusion because when Ash turned around he saw the small cat dragging a shirt out of the basket with his teeth.

“I don't think this is something you can help with, boy.” Ash said as he walked over and picked up the shirt.

He also grabbed the scarf from the floor and paused for a split second before tossing it on top of his desk. He'd figure out exactly what to do with it later. Ash grabbed a hanger from the closet and began putting his clean clothes away.

Mahiru, Sakuya, Koyuki, and Ryusei all walked out of their last class of the day. Everyone except Ryusei seemed to be in a relatively decent mood. The blonde stared down a pink slip of paper in his hand before shoving it in his pocket.

“I can't believe I got detention…” Ryusei groaned.

“That's what you get for choosing not to do your homework.” Mahiru said.

“It's still not fair!! Why's it hafta be tomorrow!?” Ryusei complained.

“Don't worry! We’ll get a freshman to hang out with us tomorrow so you won't be missed!” Sakuya assured him.

“Why a freshman!?” Ryusei questioned.

“Because they're small enough to fill the you shaped gap in the group!” Sakuya happily teased.

“Call me short again!! I dare you, ya grass head!!” Ryusei shouted.

He lunged at Sakuya, but Koyuki quickly grabbed him from behind and attempted to hold his smaller friend back.

“My hair does _not_ look like grass!!” Sakuya loudly protested.

“No, you're right! It doesn't! It looks like _lettuce_!!” Ryusei corrected himself.

“Oh yeah!? Well- Ow!” Sakuya was interrupted by Mahiru violently smacking him in the back of the head.

“Hah! That's what you- Ow!” Ryusei was cut of by Mahiru smacking his head as well.

“Knock it off. Both of you.” Mahiru ordered.

Koyuki let go of Ryusei. Both he and Sakuya rubbed the back of their heads and whined in pain.

“Don't you think that might've been a bit too much?” Koyuki asked.

“Nope. You know it's difficult to get them to stop otherwise.” Mahiru responded.

Koyuki sighed. The pain subsided for the two injured friends and the group went back to walking down the hall in silence. It wasn't quiet for long when they passed by an intersection and a soccer ball bounced down the hall, bumping into Koyuki’s leg. The younger brunet stopped and picked up the ball, curious about where it came from. The other three stopped and looked at it as well. A tall blonde jogged down the hall and stood in front of Koyuki.

“Hey, sorry ‘bout that. I dropped it by accident.” He said.

“Oh, heh. No problem.” Koyuki replied.

Koyuki was about to hand the ball back to the other student when Mahiru got an idea and took a step forward.

“Excuse me, are you using the ball right now?” Mahiru asked.

“Um, no. I was taking it back to the gym storage.” The blonde answered.

“Can we borrow it then? We'll take it back to storage when we're done.” Mahiru requested.

Koyuki and Ryusei looked at Mahiru with confused expressions.

“Sure. I don't mind.” The other student responded.

“Hey, Tetsu! Hurry up!” A female voice called out.

The blonde, Tetsu, looked over his shoulder to see a girl and two boys standing down the hall. The girl was waving at him. Sakuya and one of them, a short boy with shoulder length tan hair, recognized each other. The boy subtly waved at him and Sakuya frantically shook a hand in front of his throat as a signal to stop. The boy flinched and immediately put his hand down.

“I gotta go. Bye.” Tetsu said before running off to join his friends.

“Cool, we got a soccer ball.” Mahiru said and kindly took the ball from Koyuki’s hands.

“Don't tell me… You wanna play soccer, huh?” Ryusei assumed.

“Yep.” Mahiru confirmed.

“But… Ash will be with us. Isn't he a hermit? What if he doesn't want to play?” Koyuki wondered.

“It’ll be good exercise for him. And if he refuses then I'll just force him. Simple as that.” Mahiru stated.

Sakuya secretly smirked. A shut-in like Ash wouldn't be able to keep up with a bunch of active teens. He'll only end up embarrassing himself and Mahiru will think less of him. Then Sakuya will finally be able to best him at something, even if it's not video games.

“Well, alright then. I could go for a game of soccer.” Ryusei agreed.

“Yes! Me too.” Koyuki added.

“Count me in! I'm gonna kick some serious ass!” Sakuya shouted.

“Nice to see you're pumped up for once. Okay, it's decided then. Let's play a game of soccer!” Mahiru announced.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was another chapter where I let unimportant scenes get out of hand ( ´_ゝ`) It's like chapter two all over again (〒︿〒) I just don't know how to stop. At least I'll have a minimum of 9,000 words of freedom to figure out what to do with a soccer match...
> 
> Anyway, apologies for this chapter taking way longer than the other ones. I lost a bit of motivation by some stuff that happened then got distracted because I was working on a whole bunch of other stuff.
> 
> Ya know, every time I finish writing and have to start proofreading I wanna die. I dunno what it is about this fic compared to others, but proofreading it is slowly killing me...


	5. Sakuya, The Rival

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> #LilacDefenseSquad
> 
> Almost eleven thousand words!?!? (´･_･`) This chapter is a doozy! And it's not even that good in my opinion. I was just way too excited to get to the next chapter.
> 
> I would've gotten this out a day sooner, but I went to the zoo and I think I've been sleeping more than usual lately so I technically didn't have the time... I guess? I dunno, I just sleep a lot ( ´_ゝ`)
> 
> Anyway, I'm going now... I have a three and a half hour Vinesauce stream to watch and I'm gonna enjoy it so hard!!

Sleepy Ash sat on a bench outside the high school courtyard. Kuro was in his lap and he was staring down at his phone. It was a couple minutes before one and tons of students were walking out of the school. Ash felt like it was yesterday when he was waiting at the park for Mahiru. Of course Mahiru would show up since he was clearly not the type to skip school, but without actually seeing him Ash couldn't help but be concerned that Mahiru would bail on him. It was completely illogical to think like that, but that was just how Ash’s mind worked.

Kuro’s nose twitched when he picked up a familiar scent. The cat stood up on Ash’s lap and his owner scratched behind his ear. He meowed at Ash, who gave him a curious expression.

“What do ya smell, boy? Is it Mahiru?” Ash asked.

Kuro meowed in response and Ash wasn't sure if that was a yes or a no.

From behind the school gates, Koyuki walked out followed by Ryusei, Mahiru, and then Sakuya. Mahiru was holding a soccer ball under his arm. Koyuki was the first to spot Ash and Kuro.

“Hey! It's Ash! Hiii!” Koyuki exclaimed and waved at Ash.

Ash looked over at the teens. His eyes immediately landed on Mahiru. The brunet flashed a bright smile at Ash and he couldn't stop his face from feeling hot. The group walked up to him and Ash stood up from the bench, holding Kuro in his arms. Mahiru went straight to petting Kuro.

“Hi Kuro! How are you? You look so cute today! Yes you do, yes you do!” Mahiru greeted the cat.

Kuro was annoyed by the way Mahiru talked to him, but Ash felt a bit jealous of the cat. Mahiru seemed to have a habit of greeting Kuro before he even acknowledged Ash’s presence.

“Oh, hello to you too, Ash. Glad to see you showed up!” Mahiru happily said.

“Sup, man.” Ryusei also greeted.

Sakuya turned his head away from the group and remained silent.

“Uh, y-yeah… Hey. Sooo, what's the plan?” Ash inquired.

Mahiru held up the soccer ball. “We're gonna play a game of soccer!”

Ash stared at Mahiru. He didn't want admit that he was disappointed. He already filled his yearly quota of outdoor activity yesterday, so he never wanted to do anymore of it ever again. Especially not something as physically gruelling as playing a sport. Still, if it's what Mahiru wanted to do then there's no way he could back out of it. That wouldn't stop him from trying to change the activity if he could, though.

“Um, you know there's no sports fields in town, right?” Ash noted.

The town was a bit too small to have the need, let alone room, for fields designated to a single sport. There wasn't even any place exclusively meant for playing sports. It just wasn't something the townsfolk cared about. Plus, the student body wasn't big enough to fill up several sports teams. Nor were there any teams they could play against other than the city up north, but the town of Ashford and the northern city didn't get along so that was out of the question.

“Come to think of it, he's right, Mahiru. Where are we gonna play?” Ryusei added.

Mahiru thought for a moment. That hadn't actually dawned on him yet. He tried to think of any open fields when something clicked in his head and he turned around to face his friends.

“Sakuya!” Mahiru called out.

Sakuya looked at Mahiru with surprise. He assumed Mahiru was going to pass the puck to him and make him come up with an idea. Of course, Sakuya didn't have an answer so there was no point in forcing the job on him.

“You're neighborhood has an empty field nearby, right?” The brunet asked.

It took Sakuya a minute to realize what Mahiru was referring to.

“No. That's an empty lot. There used to be a house there, like, a hundred years ago. I think it burned down… or something. I mean, sure, we could use it, but it's pretty crappy.” Sakuya answered.

“I'm okay with that!” Koyuki said.

“Yeah.” Ryusei agreed.

“It doesn't have to be perfect. As long as it's usable.” Mahiru added.

Sakuya groaned. “I don't really want us hanging out in my neighborhood though.”

“Oh, what? Afraid we'll see your parents yell at you?” Ryusei teased.

“Like hell!” Sakuya aggressively responded while being as vague as possible so he wasn't confirming either way.

“Stop it!” Mahiru shouted at his two misbehaving friends.

Everyone except Koyuki flinched. Ash hadn't heard Mahiru get loud like that before. It certainly surprised him. He didn't know Mahiru was so… good at keeping his friends in line.

“Ryusei, that was too far. Sakuya, there's nothing wrong with us playing soccer in your neighborhood.” Mahiru scolded.

“Yes, Mahiru. Sorry, Mahiru.” They both muttered.

Ash came to the conclusion that Mahiru was the one in charge.

“Sorry about them. Are you okay with that?” Mahiru asked as he turned back around to face Ash.

“Y-yeah. Doesn't matter to me where we go.” Ash replied.

“Okay! Sakuya, it's your neighborhood. You lead the way.” Mahiru decided.

“So bossy…” Sakuya grumbled as he began walking in front of the group.

As they all walked away from the school, another group of students emerged from the school courtyard. It was Tetsu and his friends Kaede, Kashi, and Lilac. They all stopped on the sidewalk for a moment. Lilac looked down the street in the direction his home was and was surprised to see Sakuya walking away with his friends. It wasn't normal for him to see Sakuya heading home with others.

“Lilac?”

Lilac flinched and looked back to his friends.

“S-sorry, what?” Lilac asked.

“Kaede was asking if you're going home.” Kashi said.

“O-oh… Um, yeah. I-I'll see you guys tomorrow.” Lilac replied.

Without waiting for a response, Lilac quickly made his way down the street and around the corner. His friends watched as Lilac disappeared from their view.

“Mmmn… I wish Lilac didn't have to go home so soon everyday.” Kaede complained.

“I gotta go home too.” Tetsu stated.

“Oh… alright then.” Kashi muttered.

“Bye guys.” Tetsu said before beginning to walk across the street.

“Bye.” Kaede and Kashi replied.

“Well, I suppose we better go home too.” Kashi suggested.

“Yeeaaah… Okay.” Kaede responded.

The two friends went in the opposite direction of Lilac and headed home together. Down the street, Lilac kept himself a far enough distance away from Sakuya and his friends so he wouldn't look suspicious if they saw him.

“Oh trust me, Ash. Detention is hell. You're lucky you've never had to experience it.” Ryusei said.

“Phfft, that's why I skip it when I get detention. Then again, it's better if you don't get caught in the first place.” Sakuya commented.

“I think it's hard to avoid getting caught over homework.” Koyuki stated.

“Maybe don't break the rules at all. That's always an option.” Mahiru remarked, sounding a bit sarcastic.

“C’mooon, Mahiru. Live a little. You're in high school. Ya gotta break a couple rules at least once.” Sakuya suggested.

“Heh. Yeah, you're not really allowed to fool around once you become an adult. I bet that sucks, huh Ash?” Ryusei assumed and nudged Ash with his elbow.

“I don't think I ever really messed around.” Ash said.

Ryusei, Mahiru, and Koyuki looked at Ash with curious expressions. He realized he didn't really look like a rule follower. Ash decided some explaining was necessary.

“I used to never leave the house so I didn't really have the opportunity to break any rules and when my little brother was born I spent all my time taking care of him. Plus, my mother was really lenient so I didn't really have any rules to break.” Ash clarified.

Mahiru smiled at Ash, which confused him despite how beautiful it was.

“Are you talking about the five year old?” Mahiru questioned.

Ash nodded his head.

“It's wonderful that you take care of your little brother! You must be a great big brother, Ash.” Mahiru complimented him.

“I bet he's so cute! Toddlers are just adorable!” Koyuki happily said.

It was great to hear those words from Mahiru, but Ash certainly didn't believe them. He thought it was quite the opposite actually. He was probably the worst big brother around. Especially to Tsubaki and lately to Old Child as well. He started feeling bad again for ignoring Old Child.

“Yeah, well, he's not all that cute when he thinks he's the one in charge.” Ash stated.

Mahiru and Koyuki laughed at that, and even Ryusei thought it was funny. Sakuya simply groaned and tried to walk a bit faster. The sooner they got there the sooner Sakuya could beat Ash and then he'd finally leave Mahiru alone.

The group fell quiet as they continued to walk. There was a feeling that Mahiru couldn't shake since they left school. One started when they met up with Ash and another started after they made it down the street. On a whim, Mahiru looked over his shoulder. Far down the street was another kid from school. It seemed like to Mahiru that the kid suddenly turned around and just stood there. It didn't seem like that was what he was picking up on though, so Mahiru simply ignored him.

They all walked a few more blocks and Ash finally took notice of the change in environment. Looking around at the houses they walked past, Ash could see that they didn't have the best upkeep. It reminded him of his own house. It might have looked nice from the inside, but on the outside one would assume the house had been abandoned for decades. He realized they were on the east side of town. One of the two places in Ashford that wasn't the best residential area. The south end of town was pretty much considered abandoned thanks to the Ash family living there, while the east edge of town was considered the ‘bad side’. Most everyone there was even more closed off and secluded than the rest of town. It was a pretty run down neighborhood too. For lack of a less insensitive way to say it, it was where the poor folks lived. It wasn't always like that. From what Ash could remember it only started getting like that after a fire happened. All Of Love knew more about that than he did, though. As far as Ash knew, it was also where Tsubaki spent most of his time. It made sense to Ash that it's where Sakuya lived since he was part of the youngest brother's gang.

They came upon an empty lot and Sakuya stopped walking. There was a chain link fence in front of the entire lot with no gate to get in. The lot was covered in a few patches of overgrown and weak looking grass. There was an obvious rectangular stain on the ground that made it easy to tell a house was once there, even if it was an extremely long time ago. Without hesitation, Sakuya easily vaulted himself over the fence to enter the lot. Ryusei grabbed onto the fence next to start climbing. He was a bit too short to jump over it at a ground level.

“Woah, wait! Okay, I have a question.” Koyuki announced.

“Ugh, what?” Sakuya asked.

“Is this legal?” The younger brunet inquired.

“C3 has better things to do than stop teenagers from playing on an empty lot.” Sakuya answered, ignoring the fact that Ash was with them.

“Good enough for me.” Ryusei said.

The blonde climbed up a few inches from the ground and managed to jump over the fence from there, landing on the other side. Ash went next. He walked up to the fence and Kuro jumped out of his arms to land over the fence. Ash vaulted himself over the same way Sakuya did. He would've preferred just walking through a gate, but there was no other way than jumping the fence. Of course, he also could've literally jumped over it, but that would've been extremely suspicious. Mahiru decided to go after Ash. He tossed the soccer ball over the fence at Ryusei, who caught it. He took a safer option and climbed the fence all the way to the top. He put one leg over the edge, followed by the other, and climbed down until he reached the bottom. The whole time Ash and Sakuya stood by, making sure they could catch Mahiru in case he fell. Koyuki was the only one left on the other side of the fence. He was a bit too nervous to climb over.

“Koyuki! C’mon, hurry up!” Ryusei called out.

“Get yer ass over here, man!” Sakuya shouted.

“Eeehhh… I don't know how I feel about this anymore. It doesn't seem right…” Koyuki whined.

“We won't get in trouble, Koyuki. I promise. Please just climb the fence.” Mahiru said, trying to be nicer than Sakuya and Ryusei.

Koyuki groaned and refused to move. Ash sighed and walked back up to the fence. He climbed it high enough to reach a hand out to Koyuki.

“I'm the adult here. If we get in trouble then I'll take the blame, but I'll make sure that won't happen in the first place.” Ash reassured him.

Koyuki stared up at Ash and gave a small smile as he took Ash’s hand. Ash helped Koyuki over the fence and made sure he reached the ground just fine.

“Heh, thank you Ash.” Koyuki said.

Ash just nodded in response. He looked over to see Mahiru smiling at him. Clearly he just earned some Mahiru points, which was really his only reason for helping Koyuki. Although, by the way Ryusei was trying to hide his glare focused on Ash, it was obvious he lost a few Ryusei points in the process. Not that he cared about that, it was just an interesting thing to note.

“Alright, can we start now?” Sakuya questioned as he took off his backpack and tossed it down against the fence.

“Wait, gimme a minute.” Mahiru requested.

He placed his bag against the fence as well. He removed his uniform jacket and once he started to take off his sweater vest, everyone became confused.

“Woah, Mahiru! What’re ya doing!?” Ryusei asked.

“We're outside and we're going to be playing a sport. I don't want to overheat. Geez, be a little more mature.” Mahiru clarified.

Ash blushed and looked away at the revelation of where Ryusei’s mind went. Sakuya, on the other hand, snickered at the thought.

“Oh! That's a really good idea actually.” Koyuki said.

The younger brunet put his own bag down and took off his sweater, folding it so he could place it in his bag. Ryusei shrugged and joined in. He put his bag with everyone else's and took off his jacket and button up, leaving just his dark blue shirt. Sakuya finally followed them and removed his uniform jacket as well. He even rolled up the sleeves of his black and white striped shirt for extra measure. The four teens looked at Ash, who simply stood there.

“Come on, Ash. You'll be way too hot in that thing.” Mahiru advised.

“Yeah, the fur on the hood might overheat your brain.” Ryusei said more as a joke than as advice.

Ash groaned as he began unbuttoning his jacket. There was no real risk of him overheating, but it was better to take it off than leave it on anyway. He didn't want to accidentally use his coattails during the game or get tripped by someone stepping on them. With the jacket off, Ash wasn't sure what to do with it. It just got washed that morning and he didn't have a bag to place it on like everyone else, but he didn't want to put it on the ground either.

“Oh, hey. Let me put it on my stuff. Don't want it getting dirty after all.” Mahiru offered.

Ash nodded and handed it to Mahiru, who folded it best he could and placed it on top of his bag. It was a bit difficult folding a jacket with such long coattails. Mahiru just folded it like a shirt and wrapped the coattails around it almost like it was a present. Sakuya didn't want to protest something so harmless, but he still didn't like that Ash’s jacket was with Mahiru’s stuff.

“So what do we do about teams?” Ryusei wondered.

“Oh yeah. There's five of us so the teams won't be even.” Mahiru realized.

“Maybe one of us could be referee.” Sakuya suggested, also okay with the idea of Ash simply not participating.

“That wouldn't be fair though.” Koyuki protested.

“Well hold up. Does Ash even know how to play?” Ryusei questioned.

“Ryusei, don't you think it's a little presumptuous to assume that? Wait… you do know how to play soccer, right Ash?” Mahiru attempted to confirm.

“Again, I was homeschooled. Not locked in my house for eighteen years. And I play a lot of Inuzuma Twelve so of course I know how to play soccer.” Ash answered.

Sakuya and Ryusei snickered at his answer.

“Knowing how to play Inuzuma Twelve doesn't automatically make you good at soccer!” Sakuya mocked him.

Ash scowled at Sakuya. “Well what more is there than just ‘kick the ball in your goal’?”

“Eh, you got a point. It really is that simple.” Mahiru said.

“Actually, what do we do about goals? Shouldn't we decide on that since there aren't any real ones?” Koyuki suggested.

“That's easy. On that side it's if the ball goes past the first two trees there, and on this side it's if it hits the fence to the left of our bags.” Mahiru decided, pointing out the specific spots he was referring to.

When Mahiru looked back to the fence, he saw the same boy from earlier peeking around the edge of the wooden fence that belonged to the house next door. They locked eyes for a moment before the boy flinched and hid behind the fence. Everyone looked at Mahiru in confusion.

“Huh? What's wrong Mahiru?” Koyuki asked.

“Someone's watching us.” Mahiru stated.

They looked over to where Mahiru was staring. They didn't see anyone, so it only confused everyone further. Kuro sniffed the air and picked up a familiar scent. He made his way to the fence and squeezed his body between the gap of the two fences to get onto the sidewalk. He turned his head and looked up to see Lilac. Kuro meowed and sat down in front of the boy’s feet.

“Kuro! Ssshh!!” Lilac whisper-yelled.

Kuro bit on the boy's pant leg and started tugging. He used enough strength to successfully tug the boy forward. Lilac grabbed the top of the wooden fence and tried to pull his leg back.

“N-noo! Please! I can't let Sakuya see me!” Lilac quietly, but frantically begged.

It was a bit too late for that. Lilac was easily visible to the other group and the sight was rather pitiful to them. At the revelation that it was Lilac, Sakuya took the soccer ball from Ryusei and aggressively punted it at the fence, which startled the group and made Lilac yelp.

“Go!! Home!! Lilac!!” Sakuya angrily shouted.

“Ah! I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I just- well- I mean, I was! I always go this way!” Lilac anxiously tried to explain.

“Woah, you know that kid, Sakuya?” Ryusei asked.

Sakuya groaned. He was hoping he'd never be asked that.

“...Yeah. He’s Lilac. He lives on the floor above me…” Sakuya answered.

Ash couldn't confirm if that was true or not, but he knew there was more Sakuya could say than just that. He recognized Lilac as a kid that had been with Tsubaki’s group since he was a toddler. Ash hadn't see him in a long while so it took him a second to tell that it was Lilac. The boy definitely looked older compared to last time. He didn't know Lilac went to school now either.

“Uh… C-can you make him stop, please?” Lilac asked, referring to Kuro.

“Kuro, here boy!” Ash called out as he snapped his fingers.

Kuro let go of Lilac’s pant leg and squeezed back between the fences to sit down next to Ash.

“T-thank you…” Lilac said.

“Hey, do you have some free time right now?” Mahiru inquired.

Sakuya went wide eyed at the revelation of what Mahiru was doing.

“Um… Technically. I'm supposed to go home straight from school, but it's probably okay since Sakuya is here.” Lilac answered.

“Great! Want to join us for soccer then?” Mahiru offered.

“Huh? Y-you want… _me_ to join you?” Lilac nervously repeated.

“Oh no, Mahiru! You don't want him playing with us!” Sakuya protested.

“Well I'm sure as long as he's not crippled then he can play.” Ryusei said.

“Does that include non-physically?” Sakuya questioned.

Mahiru smacked Sakuya in the arm, making him yelp and rub his hurt arm.

“Nonsense. You can join us, Lilac! We need an even number anyway!” Mahiru reassured him.

Lilac nervously smiled and seemed a bit too eager as he scrambled to climb the fence. At the top, he somehow lost his balance and slipped. Lilac went face first into the dirt as his body hit the ground. Everyone winced at the sight. Surprisingly, Lilac lifted his head up and got up as if he was perfectly fine. He rubbed the dirt off his face and ran up to the group.

“I'm okay, I'm okay! Stuff like that happens all the time!” Lilac clarified.

Ryusei tried to stifle a laugh and Koyuki gave him a pity smile. Sakuya groaned in disappointment and Ash just looked away.

“Okaaay, back to teams then.” Mahiru said.

“I'll be on Koyuki’s team.” Ryusei decided.

Koyuki enthusiastically raised his hand. “I think you and Ash should be on the same team!”

Sakuya and Ash both flinched.

“Why?” Mahiru asked.

“Because he's your guest!” Koyuki explained, a not-so-innocent smiling forming on his face.

“Good enough for me. You okay with that, Ash?” Mahiru inquired.

Ash was too nervous to say anything, so he simply nodded his head. Sakuya glared at Ash out of the corner of his eye. He wanted to be on the opposite team of Ash, but he also wanted to be on Mahiru’s team.

“I'll take Koyuki and Ryusei’s team then.” Sakuya reluctantly decided.

“So that leaves Lilac for us.” Mahiru noted.

“I'll be goalie!” Koyuki announced.

“Who should be goalie? I could do it if neither of you want to.” Mahiru suggested to his teammates.

Ash momentarily thought about taking the job. It would mean he wouldn't have to do much other than stand there. Unfortunately, Lilac beat him to it.

“I can. I-I'm not really good at sports. I'd only get in the way otherwise…” Lilac said.

“Okay then. Ash, how good would you say you are at kicking?” Mahiru inquired.

In truth, Ash could easily kick the ball hard enough to pop it, but that was far more than just inhuman. He wasn't planning on using anything even remotely close to full strength either. He was playing with a bunch of normal teenagers after all. Well, mostly, considering Lilac was there. He decided to give an answer that would sound plausible for him, but wouldn't disappoint Mahiru. Although, it would be difficult not to sell himself short due to self-esteem issues.

“Moderate, I guess. I may be lazy, but I'm not weak.” Ash replied.

“Alright. And your running speed?” Mahiru questioned.

Ash became confused. He didn't expect Mahiru to take a soccer game so seriously. Perhaps it was just normal for Mahiru to give it his all no matter what he was doing. Either way, Ash decided not to oversell himself with Mahiru’s other question.

“Slow.” Ash responded.

Mahiru quietly thought to himself for a moment and Ash and Lilac made eye contact for a split second.

“Then you just focus on making goals. I'll work on interception and passing you the ball to make shots.” Mahiru decided.

Ash nodded in agreement.

“Lilac, if you know what's good for you, you'll watch out for Sakuya’s shots. He's got the necessary aggression to knock a few teeth out.” Mahiru warned.

“Oh… B-believe me, I already k-know that.” Lilac said.

“Hey! You guys ready to lose!?” Sakuya shouted.

“You wish!” Mahiru playfully shouted back.

“Places everyone!” Koyuki announced.

Mahiru ran off to take the side of the lot closer to the fence. Ash was about to follow, when he heard Kuro meow at him. Ash crouched down to get closer to the cat.

“Oh, sorry Kuro. You can can take a nap, or go do whatever it is you do when you leave. I dunno actually know what you do.” Ash told him.

Kuro meowed again and ran off to the teens’ bags. He immediately sat on top of Ash’s jacket and curled up into a ball. Ash simply sighed.

“Of course that's what you do.” Ash grumbled.

“U-um…”

Ash looked over to see Lilac standing in front of him.

“Um, if you don't m-mind me asking… Why are you out here? I-I thought Sakuya hated you.” Lilac asked.

“...Well, I think I gave him a few more reasons to. I'm just here for Mahiru, that's all. Hey, don't mention that you know me, okay?” Ash requested.

“Don’t worry, I understand. Sakuya tells me to do the same thing.” Lilac replied.

Ash started to feel bad for the kid. 

“Hurry up you two!” Mahiru called out.

Ash and Lilac walked up to Mahiru. He pointed at their positions for them. Lilac backed up against the fence and Ash stood closer to the middle of the lot across from Mahiru. Koyuki had the ball and placed it in the dead center of the lot before running back to stand in front of the two trees that Mahiru designated as the other goal.

“...Three!”

Mahiru pointed a finger from himself to the ball.

“...Two!”

Ash took that to mean that Mahiru was going to take control of the ball first.

“...One!”

Ash decided for himself that he'd go around the side to get closer to the goal so he could prepare to kick it in.

“...Play ball!!” Koyuki shouted.

Mahiru and Sakuya immediately sprinted for the ball. Ryusei backed up off to the side and Ash ran past the fight in the middle of the lot towards Koyuki’s goal. Mahiru, being the faster of the two, reached the ball first and kicked it hard enough to fly past Sakuya. Ash waited for the ball to reach him and ran with it before getting ready to kick it. Just before he did, Ryusei seemingly came out of nowhere and snatched the ball right out from under Ash. Before Ash could react, Ryusei kicked it to Sakuya, who immediately made a shot at the goal. Mahiru tried to catch up to the ball in time, but couldn't make it.

“Lilac!” Mahiru called out.

As the ball got closer, Lilac became more and more anxious. He took a step to the side, but froze at the last second as the ball whizzed past him and slammed into the fence. The sound of the impact made him yelp.

“I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I choked! I didn't mean to! It's just a lot of pressure!!” Lilac frantically apologized and tugged on his hair.

“I told you he shouldn't play with us!” Sakuya mocked them.

Mahiru sighed. “I call a timeout!”

“Oh c’mon! What for!?” Ryusei questioned.

“For a team meeting!” Mahiru announced.

Ash made his way back over to Mahiru and Lilac nervously walked up to him as well.

“Sorry, I underestimated Ryusei.” Ash apologized, hoping to take the blame on himself.

“It's not your fault, Ash. People always do that since he's so short.” Mahiru reassured him.

Lilac stared down at the ground and nervously fidgeted with his hands.

“Alright Lilac, how bad is your anxiety?” Mahiru asked.

“Oh it's crippling.” Lilac didn't hesitate to answer so quickly.

Mahiru and Ash sighed. Maybe they should've listened to Sakuya’s warnings.

“We don't have all day, ya know!” Sakuya shouted.

“I'm sorry I'm so useless.” Lilac muttered.

“No, no, no! That's not it. We just… have to think of a way to make you more… _useful_! Ash!” Mahiru tossed the work to Ash, who tensed up.

He didn't know how to make Lilac useful. He didn't know how to make himself useful. What was Ash supposed to do?

“Ya got ten seconds!” Sakuya announced.

The three teammates groaned.

Ash just blurted out the first thing that came to mind. “Kuro!” 

The cat’s head perked up and he stared at his owner.

“Switch with Lilac!” Ash ordered.

Kuro’s ears drooped down and he groaned, but got up from his place on Ash’s jacket to walk up to the losing team.

“I… don't think-”

“Don't worry, Mahiru. Kuro’s not your average cat. I trust him to do a good job.” Ash interrupted Mahiru.

Mahiru stared at Ash. The taller man seemed so sure of himself so Mahiru decided to trust his decision.

“Okay. Sorry to boot you out of the game like this, Lilac. Especially about replacing you with a cat.” Mahiru apologized.

Lilac shook his head. “Kuro’s really sma- er… Kuro _seems_ like a really smart cat. I'd definitely trust him over me so it's okay. I'll just watch from the sidelines.”

Lilac took a step back before turning around to go sit near everyone's bags.

“Alright, what the hell’s goin’ on!?” Sakuya shouted.

“We're switching Lilac out for Kuro!” Mahiru answered.

Sakuya started laughing and Ryusei just seemed very confused. Koyuki giggled in a positive way.

“Seriously!? I mean, sure, a cat’s better than Lilac, but it's still a cat!” Sakuya mocked.

In all seriousness, Sakuya was terrified. He knew Kuro wasn't a normal cat and he knew Kuro was just as inhumanly strong as the likes of Tsubaki and Ash. The losing team definitely had more than a chance now.

“I don't get it. Is it fair like this, or not?” Ryusei questioned.

“Oh, who cares. As long as we have fun, right?” Koyuki said.

Mahiru grabbed the soccer ball and brought it to the center to place it down.

“Alright, I'd say everyone's warmed up. This is where the game really starts.” Mahiru said.

Ash took his place on the lot and Kuro sat down in front of the goal area. Ash looked back to Kuro.

“Hey, hold back, okay?” Ash whispered.

Kuro nodded his head. He didn't want to go all out on a pointless soccer game in the first place.

Mahiru walked back to his position and everybody braced themselves for the second round to start. Lilac suddenly got up and ran to the middle side of the lot, deciding to be referee instead of just standing by.

“Ready, set, go!!” Lilac called out.

The two teams kept up the same strategy. Mahiru and Sakuya ran for the ball, Ash went around, and Ryusei backed up. This time, however, Sakuya reached the ball first. Without a teammate on the other side and Mahiru directly in his path, Sakuya took a risk and made the shot. The ball rolled past Mahiru and had a straight shot to the goal area. Kuro simply stood between the ball and the fence with a blank expression on his face. Once it was close enough, Kuro spun around just in time for the ball to make contact with his tail. The ball and his tail stopped against each other for barely a fraction of a second before the ball launched back at about fives times it's initial speed and quite literally flew by Mahiru, past Sakuya, and almost hit Koyuki as it disappeared into the woods. Everyone stood still, too shocked over what they witnessed to move. Ash was the first one to look back at Kuro.

The expression on his owner's face told the cat that he might've been a bit too forceful. The thing was, Kuro was holding back the best he could. He was certain that he barely put any power into that swing. Apparently they both underestimated just what the small cat was truly capable of.

“That. Was. _Awesome_!!” Ryusei exclaimed.

“...I think my life flashed before my eyes…” Koyuki mumbled.

“So, um… is that a point then, or out of bounds?” Sakuya asked.

“I-I guess it's a point…?” Lilac replied, not too confident with his answer.

“Well someone has to get it.” Mahiru said.

Koyuki was too busy contemplating his life choices so far to get the ball, so Ryusei began jogging off to find it. Before he got past Koyuki, the ball suddenly bounced out of the woods and slowly rolled up to Sakuya. Once again, everyone was silent and remained completely still. Mahiru was overcome with a strong urge to walk into the woods. It wasn't stronger than the feeling emanating behind him though, but he still suddenly felt like he was stuck between two magnets that were both pulling on him. Kuro immediately groaned in annoyance at his own revelation of what just happened. Sakuya kicked the ball to its place in the middle and got back into his position.

“Well, c’mon. Round three!” He said.

Deciding to forget about it, everyone got back in their places. Mahiru and Ash made eye contact. Mahiru pointed to Ash, then over his shoulder, meaning he wanted Ash to back up instead. Ash nodded his head.

“Ready, set, go!!” Lilac called out.

This time Mahiru and Ryusei ran for the ball. Ash backed up towards the goal and Sakuya ran up close, but stayed behind Ryusei. Mahiru took the ball first, but it didn't work with his strategy. He planned on Sakuya going for the ball and getting there before him, which was why he wanted Ash to fall back. Still, he had control and he couldn't risk taking a shot so he kicked the ball back to Ash. Mahiru then made his way past the opposing team while they both went for Ash. Now with the ball, Ash took it with him in an attempt to reach Mahiru. Ryusei and Sakuya got in his way, so he used an opening between them to kick the ball to Mahiru. Mahiru immediately made a shot at the goal with it. Ryusei and Sakuya made a mad dash for the ball while Koyuki prepared himself to stop it. Mahiru backed up just in case. Koyuki easily caught the ball in his arms and everyone froze. Mahiru sighed as he walked back to his spot and everyone else did the same. Koyuki tossed the ball to Ryusei, who set it back on the middle. Sakuya and Ryusei immediately started sending hand signals to each other.

“Hey.” Ash called.

Mahiru looked over at him.

“...Good shot.” Ash said.

Mahiru stared at Ash for a moment before smiling.

“It's not good unless it scores. You get the ball this time.” He replied.

Ash nodded his head.

“Ready, set, go!!” Lilac called out.

Ash and Sakuya ran to the ball while Mahiru and Ryusei both backed up on their respective sides of the lot. Sakuya smirked. Finally he'd be head to head with Ash and could really show off that he was better. Sakuya reached the ball first and, without thinking, kicked it has hard as he could. The ball went right between Ash’s feet, surprising him to the point that he just stood still in shock. Mahiru quickly intercepted the shot and took control of the ball, attempting to take it closer to the goal. Sakuya immediately retreated to back up Ryusei in case he needed it. Ash got his bearings back and started running over to help Mahiru. Ryusei tried to block Mahiru, but some fast footwork got him past the blonde. Sakuya and Ash practically got right up on each other as they tried to stay ahead of Mahiru. Annoyed by it, Sakuya turned and pushed Ash away. Ash barely budged, but something must have turned off in his head to make him push Sakuya back. At the same time that the green haired teen fell down, Koyuki and Ryusei were distracted by Mahiru kicking the ball.

“What the hell, man!?” Sakuya shouted.

Koyuki looked at Sakuya for just a split second, which was enough time for the ball to roll past him, earning a point for the opposing team. Mahiru was about to start cheering, but didn't when he looked over to see Sakuya on the ground.

“What do you mean ‘what the hell’? You pushed me first.” Ash argued.

“‘Cause you were in my way! There was no need to knock me over like that!” Sakuya claimed, clearly speaking loud enough so everyone could hear.

Mahiru and Ryusei ran up to the other two while Koyuki went to get the ball back.

“Are you okay, Sakuya?” Mahiru asked.

“Uh, yeah, but I could use some help getting up.” Sakuya said.

Mahiru reached a hand out and Sakuya grabbed the brunet’s hand. He flashed a sly grin to Ash, who glared at Sakuya as he got pulled up by Mahiru.

“Isn't using your hands against the rules?” Ryusei wondered.

“It's only allowed if you're both fighting for the ball… Or you're the goalie.” Koyuki explained as he came back with the ball in his hands.

Mahiru sighed. “Apologize to each other.”

“But _he_ pushed _me_!” Both Ash and Sakuya argued while pointing at one another.

“Now!” Mahiru ordered in a stern voice that managed to scare the two taller males.

“...S-sorry...” They both mumbled without looking at each other.

“Alright, now let's forget it ever happened and play a little nicer. Koyuki, toss me the ball!” Mahiru said.

Koyuki threw the ball at Mahiru, who caught it, and everyone moved back to their places as Mahiru put the ball in the center. Ash could see that Kuro was curled up on the ground in the goal area. The cat's tail was twitching so he wasn't asleep at least. Either Kuro wasn't taking his job as a goalie seriously, or he was way too overconfident. Mahiru finally went back to his place.

“Sorry I distracted from you earning a point.” Ash muttered.

Mahiru shook his head. “That doesn't matter, just don't let Sakuya’s competitiveness get to you.”

Ash only ended up feeling worse about that. He wasn't usually one to fight back like that. When Sakuya pushed him it was like something snapped just a little bit. It didn't even register to Ash that he pushed back until he saw Sakuya on the ground. It seemed more like it was an involuntary reaction. Ash wasn't trying to justify his actions, he just wanted to understand why it happened.

“Ready, set, go!!” Lilac called out.

Ash realized they didn't discuss a strategy this time. He decided to do the same as last time and ran for the ball. It was him and Sakuya again. They both reached the ball at the same time and they both went to kick it. By some strange miracle, it ended up being a successful kick resulting in a pop fly. Ash and Sakuya stared up at the ball as it rose high into the air. Mahiru and Ryusei scrambled to figure out where the ball would land while the other two remained motionless in the middle of the lot. The ball hit the ground closer to Mahiru and Ash immediately ran past Sakuya, who took a fraction of a second longer to come to his senses. Ryusei backed up and Sakuya went to intercept Mahiru. Mahiru kicked the ball to Ash, who took it and made a shot at the goal. Ryusei managed to step in between the ball and goal just in time to snatch control of it for himself. Ash chased him as he ran past with the ball and passed it off to Sakuya. As Sakuya caught the ball he readied to make a shot, but Mahiru practically slid by and kicked the ball away from Sakuya. Everyone scrambled to reach it first. All four of them got there at just about the same time and Sakuya kicked first. The ball slammed against Ash’s feet while he was still running, causing him to trip forward and fall right onto Mahiru. Ryusei and Sakuya backed up as Mahiru dropped to the ground with Ash on top of him.

Ash wasn't exactly sure what happened. It all happened so fast that he didn't have a chance to think about it. He lifted his head up a bit to find himself looking down at a white button up shirt. At that point he knew only one thing could have happened and it made his face turn a bright red. He looked up at the same time that Mahiru started to sit up. The brunet rubbed the back of his head and groaned. Ash and Mahiru came face to face with one another. Mahiru seemed slightly surprised and confused while Ash tried his hardest not to start screaming. Their faces were pretty close together and Ash didn't know it, but he was also sitting in between Mahiru’s legs.

Ash could closely see Mahiru’s bright brown eyes. There was something about them that was perfect and pure. It made Ash want to melt at the sight. Mahiru also got an in-depth look at Ash’s eyes. They were a shade of red that made Mahiru think of blood and the more he looked into them, the more they looked so dead and lifeless. Like if it was true that the eyes were the windows to the soul then it would be easy to see that Ash’s eyes lacked any soul.

There was a tiny, tiny, tiny part of Ash’s mind that was yelling at him to lean in and he almost succumbed to the urge before forcing himself to frantically scoot back on the ground. He mentally cursed the fact that he wasn't wearing his jacket because he couldn't use his hood to cover his face.

“Aaaa- I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!” Ash frantically apologized.

“O-oh… Ah, hahaha. It's fine, accidents happen.” Mahiru said with an awkward smile.

“Are you okay, Mahiru?” Koyuki asked.

Mahiru looked up to everyone, including Lilac, looming over him.

“Y-you d-don't have a concussion, do you? That could k-kill you if you fall asleep!” Lilac nervously said.

“Oh crap, is Mahiru gonna die?” Ryusei wondered, not sounding too concerned about the possibility of Mahiru dying.

“He wouldn't get a concussion from a fall like that, dumbass.” Sakuya corrected, not exclusively replying to Lilac or Ryusei.

Koyuki reached a hand out and Mahiru took it, letting Koyuki help him up.

“I think I'm fine. Nothing feels broken. I'll be okay! We can keep playing.” Mahiru reassured everyone with a smile.

Koyuki rubbed off some dirt that was on the back of Mahiru’s shirt for him.

“Is this just a habit for you two now?” Ryusei questioned.

“Huh? Oh! Hah, I sure hope not. Ash is sort of like a brick wall. I'd be lying if I said it didn't kind of hurt getting knocked over by him.” Mahiru admitted.

Ash pulled his knees close to his chest and put his head down. He didn't realize bumping into Mahiru was such a problem, and it was how they met too. He must have been bothering Mahiru with a lot more than just that. It really was true then, Mahiru was only being nice so he didn't hurt Ash’s feelings. Ash heard footsteps approach him and he lifted his head to see Mahiru bent over in front of him.

“You okay, Ash? Did you get hurt?” Mahiru inquired.

“...N-no… Just… tired.” Ash replied.

“Heh. You need to get out more if a little bit of soccer wears you out. Come on, let's just go a couple more rounds and we'll be done.” Mahiru suggested and held a hand out to Ash.

Sakuya quickly walked over and threw an arm around Mahiru’s shoulders.

“Hey, lemme help him up. If he's capable of pushing ya over then he's capable of pulling ya down too.” Sakuya said and held his own hand out.

Mahiru groaned and removed Sakuya’s arm so he could take a step back. Sakuya flashed a smug expression and Ash glared at him. Ash stood up on his own and wiped the dirt off his pants, white wasn't exactly the best thing to wear when playing sports.

“Are we good to keep goin’?” Ryusei asked.

“Yep. Let's start that round over.” Mahiru said.

Koyuki picked the ball and put it in the middle on his way back to the goal area. Everyone else moved back to their spots as well.

“Let's both hang back this time.” Mahiru advised.

Ash nodded. Mahiru’s plan seemed a bit risky to Ash, but he didn't want to come up with anything himself so he simply went along with it.

“Ready, set, go!!” Lilac called out.

Ash stepped a few feet back and Mahiru stayed in his place. Ryusei ran forward while Sakuya went to the ball by himself. He was hesitant to move the ball since he wasn't sure what Ash and Mahiru were up to, but took the risk anyway and kicked the ball to Ryusei. The blonde headed for the goal area and Ash stepped in front of him while Mahiru made sure to stay in Sakuya’s way. Despite being close to the goal, Ryusei didn't want to risk losing the ball to Ash so he turned around to kick it back to Sakuya, not realizing that Mahiru was in the way. Sakuya couldn't get past Mahiru to stop the brunet from taking the ball. Ash ran to the middle of the lot and Ryusei went around to get closer to the other goal. Sakuya attempted to get in between Mahiru and Ash. Mahiru ran with the ball towards the goal, ignoring Sakuya and Ash. Ash made sure to keep up with Mahiru and Sakuya backed up towards Kuro’s goal instead. Ryusei stood his ground in front of Koyuki’s goal as Mahiru slowed down and Ash ran ahead. With Ryusei in the way of the goal, Mahiru passed the ball to Ash. As Ash ran up to catch it, Ryusei snuck by and kicked it away from Ash towards Sakuya. Mahiru and Ash attempted to stop it before it reached Sakuya. Unfortunately, the ball reached Sakuya in time and he made a shot at the goal area with as much force as possible. Kuro was still curled up with his eyes closed in front of the goal. As the ball came towards him, his tail rose up and swatted the ball back like his tail was a baseball bat. The ball rolled right back to Sakuya, who kicked it again. Kuro’s tail just hit it back to Sakuya again.

“Rrgh! Damn cat!” Sakuya angrily shouted.

He kicked the ball one more time, even harder than before, and it went at an angle by just a bit. Kuro’s tail swung, but didn't hit anything. The sound of the chain link fence rattling made Kuro open his eyes and lift his head. The ball bounced off the fence next to Kuro and rolled back to Sakuya.

“Kuro!” Ash called out in a disappointed tone.

The cat simply meowed at his owner and put his head back down.

“Well… he did a really job anyway…” Mahiru said and bent over to catch his breath.

Sakuya and Ryusei both ran across the lot to high five each other.

“Get rekt, cat! Get rekt!” Sakuya shouted.

“Who kicks like a boss? Sakuya Watanuki kicks like a boss!” Ryusei cheered.

“Get rekt! Get rekt!” They both chanted.

Ash and Mahiru looked at each other with slightly annoyed expressions. Kuro let out a very loud and aggressive hiss, which made Sakuya and Ryusei flinch and grab onto each other like startled children.

“You two keep that up and I'll make Lilac call a gloating penalty.” Koyuki warned.

“Eep!” Lilac yelped at the thought of taking such an authoritative action.

“You’re on _our_ team, Koyuki!” Sakuya said.

“That’s the price I'm willing to pay for correcting unsportsmanlike behavior.” Koyuki sternly told him.

“Ugh, someone get the ball already.” Sakuya groaned.

Ash ran off to grab the ball so Mahiru could have a little extra time to cool off. He brought it back to the middle and got into his position with everyone else. Mahiru signaled for Ash to go around while he would go after the ball just like the first two rounds. Ash nodded in response.

“R-ready, set, go!!” Lilac called out.

Mahiru and Ryusei went to the ball as Sakuya backed up and Ash went around. Sakuya made his way to the side to get closer to Ash. Mahiru reached the ball first and Ryusei backed out without a fight, instead choosing to head past Mahiru. Sakuya was in the way, so Ash tried to get in front of him, but Sakuya just kept getting in his way. Mahiru chose not to take the shot so he headed closer to the goal. Sakuya made a dash to intercept Mahiru and Ash took the opportunity to go in the opposite direction. Mahiru made a quick shot to side to pass the ball to Ash, who took control and turned around. He kicked it towards the goal and Mahiru began backing up just incase. Sakuya ran to stop it and Koyuki got ready catch it if the ball made it past Sakuya. Unfortunately, Sakuya did make it and instead of just stopping the ball, he full force kicked it back. He meant to kick it towards Ryusei, but his aim was off a bit so the ball shot off hard to the side. It whizzed past Mahiru, who didn't go after it since it was clearly out of bounds. Lilac stood still and simply stared with wide purple eyes as the ball smacked right into his face, letting a screech like sound. Koyuki and Mahiru gasped in shock while Ash and Ryusei winced and looked away. Sakuya immediately ran off to check on Lilac.

“Crap!! You better not be bleeding, Lilac! Shamrock’ll kill me if he sees you bleeding!” Sakuya shouted.

Lilac had his face covered with his hands and whined as he rolled on his side. Everyone else ran over to check on Lilac as well. Sakuya loomed over Lilac and grabbed the younger teen’s hands to pull them away.

“I-is it… bad…?” Lilac nervously asked with slightly slurred speech.

Everyone gathered around and looked down at the poor kid. Koyuki put his hands over his mouth. Sakuya let out a sigh of relief.

“Oh thank God! Ooooh thank God he's not bleeding!!” Sakuya gratefully said.

Ryusei crouched down to get a closer look.

“Dude, I think he's getting a black eye.” The blonde noted.

“That does not look okay.” Mahiru muttered.

Sakuya looked back down at Lilac. Around his left eye it started turning a bit purple-ish. Sakuya backed away and angrily rummaged his hands through his green hair.

“Aaaah!! I'm screwed! I'm so screwed! I'm dead! I'm dead, I'm dead, I'm dead! Shamrock’s gonna murder me!” Sakuya shouted.

“Sakuya, who the hell is Shamrock?” Mahiru questioned.

“He's Lilac’s guardian! He's gonna kill me! He already hates me enough as it is!” Sakuya frantically explained.

Lilac tried to sit up and Mahiru helped him up by pushing on his back.

“It's okay, Sakuya. I'll tell him it was someone else's fault.” Lilac suggested.

Sakuya froze. He didn't want to lie, but he didn't want to get in trouble either. If Shamrock found out then it was likely his own parents probably would as well. They wouldn't care much about Lilac’s injury, but they'd be more than pissed at Sakuya since it was his fault. On the other hand, it would be easy to lie to Shamrock as long as it didn't have anything to do with Tsubaki, which it didn't. It also wouldn't be the first time Lilac had lied to Shamrock to cover something up. So long as Sakuya kept his mouth shut it didn't count as him lying either. Sakuya sighed.

“Okay, fine. Go home without me though. If he catches us together then he'll know I had something to do with it.” Sakuya said.

“O-oh, okay.” Lilac muttered.

“Well, now, Sakuya. He probably can't see right. How do you expect him to go home by himself?” Mahiru scolded Sakuya.

“N-no! It's okay, really. It's just down the street. I can make it.” Lilac quietly insisted.

“Lilac, it's Sakuya’s fault you got hurt. The least he could do is walk you home. You two live in the same building after all.” Mahiru sternly said, hoping to get through to Sakuya more than Lilac.

“Geez, ya gotta guilt trip me like that, Mahiru? Fine, I'll walk the kid home.” Sakuya reluctantly gave in.

Sakuya walked up and grabbed Lilac’s hands to yank the boy up from the ground. He then shoved Lilac in the back.

“Get goin’.” Sakuya ordered.

“A-aah! O-okay, okay!” Lilac whined as he held a hand over his eye.

Sakuya put his jacket back on and grabbed his bag. He hopped over the fence and waited for Lilac to climb over. He looked back and glared at Ash, upset over having to leave Mahiru alone with the guy. Ash simply looked away.

“Bye, Sakuya! Bye, Lilac! It was nice meeting you!” Koyuki shouted and waved.

“Later, dude!” Ryusei shouted.

“See you tomorrow!” Mahiru shouted.

“Yeah, yeah!” Sakuya lazily replied.

“G-goodbye!” Lilac exclaimed as he waved back from the other side of the fence.

Sakuya pushed him again to get him walking and he yelped. They both disappeared down the street.

“Well, we're down to four so we could keep going without goalies.” Ryusei suggested as he tugged on the collar of his shirt to cool himself.

“Ah, I don't think I could keep playing even if I wanted to.” Mahiru said as he removed his tie and unbuttoned the top two buttons of his shirt.

Ash tensed up and had to turn around so he wasn't staring at Mahiru.

“I have water in my backpack if you guys want it.” Koyuki offered.

“Why do you have water in your backpack?” Ryusei asked.

“It's summer. I put it in there in the event that something like this happened.” Koyuki explained as he walked over to his bag.

Ryusei and Mahiru shared a look with each other and Mahiru simply shrugged. Koyuki came back with four small water bottles. He handed one to Ryusei, Mahiru, and Ash.

“It's warm.” Ryusei stated.

“Because it's been in my backpack for a few weeks.” Koyuki responded.

“Water is water, Ryusei. Just drink it. We don't need you blacking out or anything.” Mahiru said as he opened the bottle.

“Hey, I'm fine! The shut-in is the one at risk of blacking out.” Ryusei accused and pointed at Ash.

The three teens looked at Ash and were surprised to see the man crouched down on the ground and slowly pouring out the water in the bottle. Kuro stood in front of the bottle and drank the water falling out. Mahiru smiled and Koyuki started fawning over the sight.

“Dude, what about yourself?” Ryusei questioned.

Ash looked over to see them staring at him and he felt a bit embarrassed.

“I'd rather make sure Kuro’s fine first.” He answered.

It was the truth, but it wasn't actually necessary. Neither of them were at risk of overheating and Ash didn't actually like water, but he didn't want to waste it since Koyuki was nice enough to give it to him. The younger brunet only brought four bottles so clearly one was meant for Sakuya, not Ash.

Kuro finished drinking so Ash pulled the bottle away and put the lid back on. Kuro then walked away and sat back on top of Ash’s jacket that was still with Mahiru’s stuff.

“Wait, what was the score?” Ryusei inquired.

“Oh, two-to-two. It was a tie. Sakuya got both our points while Kuro and Mahiru got the other two.” Koyuki answered.

“Hah, the cat scored one!” Ryusei laughed.

“That _was_ pretty crazy. Kuro must be a genius to even know what to do, huh Ash?” Mahiru said.

Ash stared at Kuro for a moment before getting up. He never really acknowledged the fact that Kuro thought like a person. It was just something he slowly came to accept during the first few years Kuro was with him. He once wondered if Kuro was actually a person trapped in a cat's body, but that didn't explain most of what the cat was capable of. When he asked Kuro even shook his head, so it wasn't that. Ash had to admit, though, he was curious about Kuro. Why the cat was so smart, why he didn't age after thirteen years, why his injuries could heal just like Ash’s, and why he was so overpowered like Ash as well. It was like they were the same. Ash couldn't explain it, but he felt a connection to the cat ever since they first laid eyes on each other. Ash looked back over to Mahiru and walked up to the teenagers. He saw Ryusei lightly kicking around the soccer ball a few feet away.

“Yeah, he's something special all right.” Ash muttered.

“Where'd you get him anyway? The pound closed down years ago from what I remember.” Koyuki wondered.

“He's a stray I picked up off the street.” Ash responded.

Mahiru’s eyes widened a bit. That reminded him of the animal he'd been trying to catch for a few years now. If Ash could form such a close bond with Kuro, then maybe Mahiru could do the same as well. He'd have to finally catch it first, though.

Something slammed against Mahiru’s back and knocked him forward a bit. He bumped into Ash’s chest and Ash immediately grabbed him by his shoulders so he wouldn't fall. Mahiru’s water bottle was still open and splashed water all over Mahiru and Ash.

“Oh crap! Sorry, I didn't really mean to kick it!” Ryusei frantically apologized.

The soccer ball rolled away.

“Ryu! Be more careful. We could end up with another Lilac incident.” Koyuki warned him.

Mahiru turned around and shook water off his hand. “Seriously?! Why were you messing with it anyway?”

“I dunno! Geez, I'm sorry! I just wanted to push it around a little!” Ryusei continued to apologize.

Ryusei ran off to pick up the ball again. Koyuki looked back over to check on Ash, but could only put a hand over his mouth. He nudged Mahiru in the arm and the older brunet turned around. Mahiru held his breath as he looked at Ash. The older man had lifted the bottom of his shirt up to wipe away the water that splashed on his face. Ash’s stomach was exposed and it was only slightly there, but Mahiru and Koyuki could see a little bit of muscle of definition. Koyuki leaned over to Mahiru.

“He's well-toned.” Koyuki whispered.

Mahiru went wide eyed and shoved Koyuki in the arm. He was going to fight off acceptance with denial as hard as could, but Mahiru couldn't stop a slight blush from forming on his face. He didn't want to look, but he couldn't stop staring at Ash’s stomach. Koyuki tried to muffle his own giggling. Ash finally put his shirt down and Mahiru frantically turned around so he didn't look suspicious. Ash was a bit confused, but didn't think anything of it.

“Um… A-are you okay, Mahiru?” Ash hesitated to ask.

“Y-yeah! Perfectly fine!” Mahiru quickly replied in a much higher pitched voice.

Koyuki had to stifle another giggle.

“Got it!” Ryusei shouted and held up the soccer ball.

“Hey, Ryu! Why don't you and I go take the ball back to school?” Koyuki suggested.

Everyone looked at Koyuki with curious expressions.

“I-I can go too!” Mahiru offered.

“Oh, no. It's alright, Mahiru! We got this.” Koyuki reassured him.

The smile on Koyuki’s face came off as more of a threat to Mahiru than as reassurance.

“K-kay…” Mahiru gave up, sounding a bit scared.

Ryusei ran up to his stuff and put the ball down so he could put his uniform shirt and jacket back on. Koyuki joined him to get his backpack.

“You two behave now!” Koyuki called out.

“Just go already!” Mahiru shouted back.

Koyuki giggled and climbed over the fence. Ryusei tossed him the ball so the blonde could climb over as well.

“Later!” Ryusei shouted.

Neither of them said anything, but Ash lazily waved his hand as acknowledgement. The two teens walked away and finally Ash and Mahiru were left alone on the lot.

“We might as well pack up too.” Mahiru said.

The brunet walked over to his bag and Ash followed behind him. Kuro jumped off Ash’s jacket and Mahiru picked it up to hand it to him. Ash put his jacket back on, but didn't bother buttoning it up since the top half of his shirt was still wet. He left his hood down as well. Mahiru stuffed his jacket, sweater vest, and tie in his bag since his own shirt was wet too. Ash felt his phone vibrating in his jacket pocket and pulled it out to see that his sister was calling him. He turned around and answered his phone. Kuro meowed at Mahiru and the teen happily picked up the cat to start petting him.

“Hey.” Ash greeted.

“Hey, Ash. Are you going to be home in time for dinner?” The Mother asked.

“I'm about to leave any minute now so I guess so.” Ash answered.

“Oh! Is Mahiru there!?” All Of Love suddenly intruded.

“Uh, yeah.” Ash replied, looking over his shoulder to see Mahiru smiling and petting Kuro.

“ _Mahiru_!!” Love shouted.

Ash flinched and pulled the phone away from his ear. Mahiru heard his name and looked over to Ash.

“Come over for dinner!!” Love loudly requested.

“What are you doing?” The Mother questioned, sounding annoyed.

“I'm inviting Mahiru over! Well!? Will you!?” Love continued to yell.

Mahiru walked up to Ash and held a hand out, the other being occupied by Kuro. Ash hesitated before reluctantly handing his phone over to Mahiru.

“This is Mahiru.” The brunet said.

“Oh goodie! It's All Of Love. If you're available this evening then would you like to come over to our house and have dinner with us?” Love asked as he snatched his sister's phone from her.

Mahiru glanced at Ash. The taller male seemed fidgety, like he was both embarrassed at his brother's behavior and the thought of Mahiru coming over. Mahiru had to admit, he was curious about Ash’s life. Mahiru did want to know more about him after all. It would be a good opportunity to meet the rest of Ash’s siblings too. He also liked the idea of sitting at a dinner table with eight other people. All he wanted was to have dinner while his uncle was home, so this was more than he could hope for.

“Sure! I don't see why not.” Mahiru agreed.

Ash froze. He couldn't let Mahiru see his home. His room. His annoying siblings! It would ruin everything.

“Oh wonderful! Sis and I are great cooks, I promise you won't be disappointed! See you boys soon~!” Love said and immediately hanged up so Ash couldn't protest.

Ash sighed. There was no going back now.

“Sorry if he came off as pushy. You didn't have to agree.” Ash muttered.

Mahiru smiled and handed Ash his phone back.

“It's okay. I'd be happy to join you all for dinner.” The brunet reassured Ash.

Ash dropped his head down and put his hood on so he could pull it over his eyes. He didn't want to go home. He didn't want Mahiru to go home with him. He wanted to run as far away as possible and never look back. He felt a tug on his arm and looked up to see Mahiru smiling at him.

“Seriously, it's okay. I get it, you're embarrassed by your siblings, right? You have nothing to worry about. My uncle can be pretty embarrassing sometimes so I don't like new friends meeting him. I mean, everyone's family is embarrassing after all.” Mahiru said.

That managed to calm Ash down a bit. Mahiru did seem like the understanding type too. Maybe it wouldn't be all that embarrassing after all. Maybe it would even be possible to tell Mahiru the truth… eventually.

Ash nodded his head.

“So let's get going then!” Mahiru said and walked off to the fence.

Kuro jumped out of Mahiru’s grasp and over the fence. Both males climbed over and ended up on the sidewalk. Mahiru bent down to pick up Kuro again. The cat groaned, upset over being held again. He wanted to sit on Ash’s shoulder instead. Mahiru followed behind Ash as he lead the way to his house.

Back home, The Mother snatched her phone back from Love’s hand. The blonde flinched and backed away, letting out a nervous giggle. He could tell he upset his sister.

“Don't. Do that. Again.” She calmly warned him.

Old Child, who was sitting on the couch, stood up and turned around to look at his younger siblings.

“Uh-oh, you made her mad. What did you do?” The boy asked, almost mockingly.

“...I-I invited Mahiru over for dinner.” Love nervously admitted.

“Who is this Mahiru?” Old Child questioned.

“The human that Ash likes.” Love said.

Old Child’s world suddenly came crashing down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tbh, Kuro just ended up becoming Pikachu. I mean, there's no way he wasn't using Iron Tail (´･_･`)
> 
> I had to do some plot point shifting thanks to me and my ridiculously spontaneous decision making ( ´_ゝ`) Mahiru going over for dinner was supposed to happen way later, but nothing I do is ever set in stone until the chapter is posted, so :/
> 
> Something that I considered really fun and exciting now has to be pushed back to elsewhere in the plot, but the plot will work out better this way though. Trust me on this one, guys. I at least mildly know what I'm doing \\(￣< ￣)>


	6. Old Child, The Spoiled Brat

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think I need to issue a warning on this chapter for extremely minor sexual themes. Just saying in advance since its a bit strong compared to the nature of this fic so far.
> 
> So, I realized this chapter was gonna be hella long and instead of taking forever on a chapter that might be close to twenty thousand words, I decided to cut it into two parts. This isn't the entire chapter here, just part one.

The whole walk across town felt like Sleepy Ash was walking to his death. As if he would get home, walk through the door, and immediately die. If only it were that easy. Then he wouldn't have to face his siblings with Mahiru. He wasn't worried about Mahiru’s reactions anymore so much as he was worried about their reactions to Mahiru. They all knew he was interested in Mahiru and any one of them could reveal that. Most likely Lawless. And Old Child never liked lying about being the youngest instead of second eldest so that was an entirely other thing to worry about. Tsubaki could blather that he knows Sakuya and Lilac, which would open up a whole other can of worms. Love was never good at keeping his mouth shut about anything. Just looking at Doubt could be enough to scare off Mahiru. World End might want to fight Mahiru for absolutely no reason. Then there was The Mother. Ash didn't think she could possibly mess anything up, but she was still wary about Ash liking a human to begin with. He was sure nothing good could come of Mahiru visiting.

As Mahiru walked with Ash, he got a very faint feeling that grew bigger as they got closer. It was like the closer they got, the more drawn in Mahiru felt. As if he wanted to run the rest of the way there. It made him feel drawn in and somehow extremely excited as well. Mahiru wasn't actually all that excited about it. Sure, he was happy to go to Ash’s house, but it wasn't something he deemed special enough to feel giddy over. He wasn't sure where this feeling was coming from. Although, it did remind him of the feeling he got at the park.

Mahiru soon realized where Ash was leading him. It was the south edge of town. He heard a neighborhood had gotten started on the south edge when the town was still new, but it quickly became abandoned after several decades. Nowadays he heard from other kids at school that their parents were always telling them to stay away from the south edge. Apparently it was something kids in town were told their whole lives, but Mahiru hadn't lived in town his whole life and his uncle never told him anything like that. It was rumored that monsters lived in a lone abandoned mansion on the south edge too. Clearly if Ash lived there then that wasn't true.

Ash and Mahiru began walking past big, fancy antique houses. Mahiru would've thought they looked nice if they all weren't so run down to the point of looking like haunted houses. It didn't scare Mahiru, but it almost put him on edge. The road and sidewalk stopped a while back and turned into a dirt road. As if the entire south edge hadn't been touched since the old ages. Ash abruptly stopped in front of a house and Mahiru turned to face it.

There was a dilapidated white picket fence that was barely even recognizable as white anymore. One half of a fancy gate was missing and the other half was lying on the ground partly attached to the fence. Mahiru noticed dozens of signs on the fence warning about trespassers and the possibility of being shot. There was even a sign that warned of an attack cat, but he was sure it was referring to Kuro meaning it was a novelty sign… he hoped. Leading into the large courtyard was a gravel driveway that made a circle around a broken fountain that clearly didn't work anymore. A few chipped off pieces were scattered on the ground around it. The thing that stood out most to Mahiru was the lavish looking black car parked off to the side. Next to it was a moped that seemed like it was on its last leg. The house itself was old and wooden on the outside. It looked to be two stories, possibly with an attic. All the windows had black curtains blocking the view inside. The roof had a chimney in the middle and plenty of obviously loose shingles. In relation to the house, the roof definitely seemed new, but it clearly wasn't well maintained in the slightest. The front of the house had a porch attached with three steps leading up to it. There were two wooden chairs and a table on the porch, along with a lighter left on the table. On the ground next to the porch was plenty of cigarette butts. Mahiru wondered who in Ash’s family smoked.

The brunet finally looked away from the house to stare at Ash.

“You… live here?” Mahiru asked, not quite ready to believe it.

Ash was silent for a moment.

“...Yeah… but I swear, it's a lot nicer on the inside.” Ash responded.

Mahiru nodded and followed Ash up to the porch. Kuro jumped out of Mahiru’s arms and landed on the ground, ready to sprint inside the second Ash opened the door. The cat could tell something negative was waiting on the other side of the door and he didn't want anything to do with it. Ash hesitated before reaching a hand out to the door knob and finally opening the door. He barely cracked it open and Kuro managed to quickly squeeze inside the house, making a break for Ash’s bedroom despite knowing its door was closed. When Ash opened the door all the way and stepped inside the house, it didn't quite register in his mind that Old Child was standing there with a mixed expression of anger and determination on his young face. Once the younger brother saw Mahiru step inside the house as well, he gripped onto the smoking pipe in his hands like it was a baseball bat and swung at Mahiru, hitting the teen in the knee.

“Ow! What the-” Mahiru gripped at his knee and cut himself off upon looking at the boy in front of him.

“Stay away from my big brother, you hussy!!” Old Child shouted.

The boy went to swing at Mahiru again and Ash was about to grab Old Child to stop him, but Mahiru beat him to it. The brunet scooped up Old Child and held him high up in the air with a bright smile on his face.

Mahiru got a good look at Old Child. He was clearly the five year old that Ash had previously mentioned before. The only thing Ash and Old Child had in common was red eyes and two sharp teeth, other than that they didn't look alike at all. The boy had short, wavy dark brown hair and a monocle over his right eye. He had on a black suit and cape with a red, almost pink, lining on the inside. Mahiru assumed the boy just liked to dress up.

“Look at you! Aren't you just the most adorable little guy I've ever seen! And what's your name, young man?” Mahiru cheerfully spoke to Old Child.

Old Child and Ash both stared at Mahiru with wide eyes. The genuine happiness on Mahiru’s face confused the boy. He just got hit in the knee, so what did he have to be happy about? Was it perhaps just… kindness? Old Child finally got his composure back and aggressively shook the pipe in his hand at Mahiru.

“I am Old Child Hugh Algernon, but you shall address me as Old Child! When Ash isn't here I am the one in charge! I order you to leave my big brother alone and never come here again! If I ever set eyes on you a second time then it'll be the last thing you see, you harlot!” Old Child exclaimed.

“It's wonderful to meet you, Old Child. I'm Mahiru Shirota. I'm sorry for taking time away from your big brother, I promise I won't get in your way anymore. You have quite the vocabulary, you know! I bet you're super smart for your age!” Mahiru replied.

Old Child was going to start protesting, but Mahiru pulled the boy close to carry him and put a hand on his back. Old Child froze. Something flipped a switch inside him and he immediately felt so calm and relaxed in Mahiru’s arms. He didn't want to, but he put his head down against Mahiru’s shoulder and hesitated before wrapping his arms around the teen’s neck. Old Child couldn't understand why Mahiru holding him created such a reaction from him. It wasn't like when Ash held him, it was like... a mother's hug. He couldn't remember what that felt like, but it was like he instinctively knew that that's what it was.

Ash stared at the sight, unsure how, or even if he should intervene. Just looking at Mahiru holding his favorite little brother was almost too much for Ash to handle. It was just so cute. If only Old Child was holding Kuro, then it would be perfect. Still, Old Child’s behavior wasn't appropriate and Ash was sure Mahiru just got the worst first impression ever.

“U-um… I'm sorry about him. I had no idea he would try to attack you… A-and sorry about his language too. I dunno where he hears that stuff.” Ash apologized.

“No need to apologize. He's a little kid who loves his big brother. There's nothing wrong with that. It didn't hurt that bad anyway, it just surprised me.” Mahiru reassured him.

Ash paused for a moment. Mahiru was right, Old Child was only acting childish because he felt threatened by Mahiru. Ash figured it out a long time ago that Old Child only regressed in maturity as a defense mechanism. His brother was also stuck in the body of a five year old so it was only understandable that he would act like one. After all, Ash never stopped feeling eighteen despite being much older than that.

“Um, Ash. I think he fell asleep.” Mahiru stated.

Ash looked at Old Child. The boy definitely did fall asleep. Ash was a bit shocked. He couldn't think of another time when Old Child fell asleep so quickly in someone's arms.

“Oh geez, sorry. Here, I can take him.” Ash offered and reached for his little brother.

Mahiru went to lift Old Child away, but immediately stopped when he felt a tug on his shirt. Old Child had a tight grip on him and there was no way the boy was going to let go.

“Heh, he's holding onto my shirt. I don't think I _can_ hand him over. If it's alright, I'm fine with holding him.” Mahiru replied and started bouncing himself ever so slightly.

Ash put his arms down. He was officially jealous of Old Child now. First his cat, then his little brother. When would Ash get a chance to be held by Mahiru?

Ash glanced down the hall and flinched at what he saw. All Of Love and The Mother were both peeking out from behind the door frame leading into the main room. Love’s expression looked giddy, while his sister seemed somewhat wary. It started to annoy Ash that they were spying.

“I can see you two.” Ash announced.

Mahiru looked from Ash over to where he was staring. Love flinched and the The Mother sighed. They both stood up straight and walked into the hall.

“Ehehe… Sorry. We told Old Child not to ambush you at the door, but… looks like he did it anyway.” Love apologized.

“Don't take his behavior to heart. He's like that with everyone when it comes to Ash.” The Mother advised.

“Um, All Of Love and The Mother, right? It's nice to see you two again.” Mahiru greeted and waved.

“Oh my! My apologies if I sound rude, but you two look like a mess. What were you doing?” Love questioned.

Ash and Mahiru looked at each other. Their shirts had dried off a bit in the sun, but they were still a bit damp. There was dirt and dust all over them too, especially on Ash’s pants.

“Uh, we played soccer.” Ash responded.

His two younger siblings stared at him in astonishment.

“Well, I must commend you, Mahiru. You actually managed to get Ash to exercise.” The Mother said.

“Oh, I'm so proud! I hope you boys had lots of fun!” Love cheered and lightly clapped his hands together.

Ash turned away in embarrassment and Mahiru laughed a bit.

“Kuro kind of played better than him, but he still did a really job.” Mahiru complimented.

Ash tugged down his hood to hide the blush forming on his face.

“Why don't you two come into the living room.” The Mother suggested as she walked back into the main room.

Love followed behind her and Mahiru glanced at Ash for a split second before he began walking away. Mahiru took a moment to look around the house. Immediately to his right was a curving staircase that led upstairs. He assumed bedrooms were up there at the least. He actually wondered how many there were. He couldn't imagine there was really eight whole bedrooms in the house for all the siblings. In front of him was a hallway that led to a room Mahiru could see in just a bit. Unfortunately, all he could see was the back of a couch and what looked like the upper part of a fireplace with a shelf above it. Whatever the room was, it seemed rather formal. In the hallway on the left was a double wide door frame. Mahiru followed Ash inside the room.

Right away he was quite surprised. The room was a lot brighter than the hallway area. It was split into two separate areas. From the entrance, the left side was a living room and the right side was a kitchen. The living room side had three couches forming a square in front of a large flat screen television. A fancy coffee table was in the middle of the couches. On either side of the television were cabinets that contained what looked to be books and antiques. Plenty of tiny ships inside bottles stood out to Mahiru. The television was sitting on a much smaller cabinet. Inside the cabinet was multiple video game systems. His first, and correct, assumption was that they belonged to Ash.

The kitchen side had a large fridge in the back corner followed by a sink, a stove and oven, a microwave, and counters with cabinets above and drawers beneath. About two feet in front was a kitchen island. It didn't seem to have any purpose other than for more counter space. In front of the island and basically in the middle of the room, although more centered to the right, was a large rectangular dining table with eight seats. Mahiru couldn't help but find it a little bit funny that one of the chairs had a small stack of books on it. Clearly that was Old Child’s seat.

“You can sit down wherever you want. It doesn't matter.” The Mother told Mahiru as she stepped back into the kitchen.

Mahiru nodded and sat down on the left end of the middle couch. Ash walked past Love to sit on the left couch, but the blonde immediately grabbed his brother by the arm. Ash looked over to see Love’s gaze was focused downward.

“Um, Ash…” Love started.

“What?” Ash asked, extremely confused.

“There's, um… There's dirt literally all over your butt.” Love said, trying to be sensitive about his wording.

Ash flinched and tried his best to look at the back of his pants. He lifted up the coattails of his jacket and could see dirt stains exactly where Love told him they were. It must have happened when Ash backed away after falling on Mahiru. Ash suddenly felt embarrassed. He had no idea if Mahiru knew the whole time, but if he did then the thought made Ash feel even worse. He tugged on his hood again.

“Can't deal…” Ash grumbled.

“Wow. Don't let Lawless or Tsubaki see that. You'll never hear the end of it if they do.” The Mother warned.

“Why don't you go change into some clean clothes, Ash?” Love suggested.

Ash would've preferred to do that, but he didn't want to leave Mahiru alone. Love and his sister weren't a threat and he was pretty sure Old Child would stay asleep, but if Lawless, Wor, or Tsubaki came in to meet Mahiru when Ash wasn't in the room he was afraid of what could happen.

“Hey, um, actually… Is it too much to ask if I could borrow a shirt?” Mahiru inquired.

Well that solved one problem, but it created a new one. One that made Ash want to scream. The idea of Mahiru wearing one of his shirts was almost too much for Ash to handle. It wasn't a bad thing and of course Ash wasn't going to refuse, but it was just so embarrassing to think about.

“U-um, yeah, sure. Not a problem.” Ash nervously replied, clearly sounding like it was a problem.

“Oh, I can take Old Child for you. You probably don't want to be carrying him around the whole time.” Love offered.

“I would, but he won't let go of my shirt.” Mahiru said as he stood up from the couch.

The Mother walked out of the kitchen and stood in front of Mahiru.

“He does that to Ash a lot. You just have to yank him a bit.” The Mother stated.

She grabbed Old Child under his arms and waited for a second before practically ripping him away from Mahiru like pulling off a bandaid really quick. It startled Mahiru enough to make the teen freeze and Ash and Love stared at their sister in shock. To everyone's surprise, Old Child didn't wake up. Ash momentarily wondered if his little brother was getting enough sleep or if Mahiru holding him had a strange affect on the boy.

“Okay, you can go now.” The Mother said.

Ash and Mahiru nervously nodded and the two walked out of the main room.

The Mother placed Old Child down on the couch where Mahiru was previously sitting. She grabbed a folded up blanket on the right end of the couch and put it over the small boy. All Of Love watched her with a concerned expression on his face. His sister then walked past him to head back into the kitchen, but turned to look at the blonde.

“What?” She questioned.

“...You… seem irritated…” Love admitted.

The Mother sighed. “I don't mean to be, but yes. I am.”

“Are you still mad?” Love asked.

“No, I'm not mad. I just- I'm not happy. I'm worried about Ash getting hurt in the long run. I think it was a… no offense but, a stupid idea to invite Mahiru over. I know you want Ash to be happy, I want him to be happy too. I've never once seen him happy and I've known him for far longer than you have. But I don't think pushing them together will end up with a fairytale ending. You can dream all you want, Love, but it's not realistic.” The Mother explained.

All Of Love dropped his head down. He was starting to feel like everyone was working against him today. Maybe he really should stop trying to help so much lately, but what was he supposed to do then? If he didn't help then there was no point. No point to anything at all. If he didn't focus on other people's problems then he'd be reminded of his own. His own stupid pointless problems that didn't matter in the slightest.

“I- It's just that… I've never seen true love that worked out in the end. All I want is for Ash to get a chance to experience it.” Love said.

“Mahiru is a human. Whether any of us want to believe it or not, he _will_ die and we never will. Ash will lose him, Lawless will lose Licht, and Tsubaki will lose Belkia. It'll happen one day and we'll all just stay in this house day in and day out for the rest of eternity as the world simply moves on without us.” The Mother looked away from her younger brother.

“You miss him, don't you?” The blonde realized.

His sister tensed up a bit and Love felt a chill run up his spine. His words certainly got through to her, that's for sure, but he was afraid he made her angry again. Love wanted to back out, he wanted to take his words back. He felt like all the progress he made long ago to no longer be scared of her was quickly getting unraveled. The unreasonable fear was coming back and the desperate need to run and hide was creeping up on him. He didn't want to lose his relationship with his only sister just because he made one single mistake and pushed their progress back by several decades. They were so close now, like best friends, and Love couldn't risk that. He had to say something to fix the situation.

“...P-please don't regret the time you spent with him! Regret festers and eat away at you until there's nothing left. I don't want you to know what that feels like!” Love nervously exclaimed.

The Mother didn't regret meeting him, or marrying him, she regretted not realizing how much it would hurt to lose him. She promised him she would move on, and yet moving on was what hurt the most. She simply didn't want Ash to feel that way. He already had too much regret to deal with, she didn't want him to add more to the pile. The Mother glanced up at All Of Love. Her brother looked scared. It wasn't obvious, but she recognized that look on his face all too well. She scared him. After decades of him not being afraid of her anymore, she just had to go and scare him on accident again. She had to do something to fix the situation.

The Mother barely took one step forward when Old Child suddenly shot up on the couch and stared straight ahead with wide eyes.

“Huh!? Wha-...?” The boy mumbled.

Love immediately took the opportunity to let himself get distracted and walked up to his big brother, crouching down in front of the couch.

“Are you up now? Did you sleep well?” Love asked with a fake smile on his face.

Old Child looked around for a moment, extremely confused. He saw his sister walk into the kitchen and looked back to Love.

“I fell asleep? But… but… Was I dreaming?” Old Child wondered.

“Oh? What did you dream about?” Love inquired.

“Ash came home with that human and I hit him in the knee.” The elder brother responded.

“That wasn't a dream, Old Child. You did that.” Love clarified.

“Wh-what!? Where is that whore!? He better not be alone with Ash!!” Old Child shouted.

“You need to watch your language, young man. As far as Mahiru knows you actually are five and it's not right for a small child to use such foul words.” Love warned.

Old Child simply groaned as a response.

A few minutes ago, Ash and Mahiru made their way upstairs. Ash was worried about Mahiru seeing his room. It was certainly cleaner than yesterday considering there wasn't a pile of dirty clothes taking up half the room anymore and it was probably bug free now too thanks to Kuro’s appetite. Still, it's not like he made his bed or cleaned up his messy desk. His carpet was still a stain magnet as well, and he just hoped Mahiru didn't look up at the ceiling for any reason.

They got to the second floor and Mahiru saw a hallway of doors. He wondered if all of them were bedrooms or not. Kuro was curled up on the floor in front of the first door to the right so that must be Ash’s room. Down the hall Mahiru could hear the faint sound of a drum beat. He assumed someone was listening to loud music, but it was only drums and nothing else, which seemed a bit strange.

Ash walked up to his door and Kuro stood up to wait for Ash to open it. Just like with the front door, Ash hesitated before going through with it. He eventually opened the door and stepped inside his room. He moved out of the way so Mahiru could walk in then closed the door. The brunet looked around the room. It was blue, very blue. Ash’s bed was blue, his carpet was blue, and there was even a deep blue rug next to the bed. His walls were a pale light blue and the curtains over his open window were a dark enough blue to be confused for black at first glance. Compared to Mahiru’s room, Ash’s room felt so bare despite being unorganized unlike Mahiru’s room. It was a bit difficult to tell, but Ash’s room was slightly bigger than Mahiru’s. He noticed posters on the left wall closest to the bed. They weren't for anything Mahiru recognized, but he assumed they were posters for video games. Otherwise, the room didn't really scream to Mahiru that it belonged to Ash. He was expecting lots of pointless possessions and more video game and cat related things. He didn't feel disappointed, though, it was just different from what he expected. It really was true that one could tell a lot about someone from looking at their room. Ash’s room was bare, yet messy, with few personal items. That had to mean something, but perhaps Mahiru didn't know enough about Ash yet to figure out what that was.

“U-um… Sorry for the mess. I wasn't expecting a guest.” Ash apologized.

“Oh! No, I should be apologizing. I don't mean to suddenly intrude.” Mahiru corrected.

“Y-you're not intruding… I don't mind you being here… Really, it's not a problem.” Ash muttered and looked away.

Mahiru smiled and the room fell silent. He glanced over to see Kuro curled up on one of Ash’s pillows. The sight was almost too cute to Mahiru and he had to resist the urge to pull out his phone to take pictures.

“U-um, lemme find a shirt for you.” Ash said, remembering why they came up to his room in the first place.

He stepped over to the closet and rummaged around a bit. He needed something that wasn't big on himself since it would be even bigger on Mahiru and nothing that looked uncharacteristic for Mahiru to wear, which would be most of his wardrobe then. Thankfully, Ash had plenty of plain black t-shirts. There was no way he could go wrong with that, black matched with everything after all. Ash pulled one off its hanger and walked back up to Mahiru, holding the shirt out for the brunet.

“Thanks.” Mahiru said with a smile and kindly took the shirt.

Ash just nodded and went back to the closet to find clean clothes for himself. He grabbed a plain white shirt and took black jeans off the shelf inside the closet. When Ash turned around he wasn't prepared in the slightest for what he saw. Mahiru unbuttoned the last button on his shirt and took it off. Mahiru was shirtless in Ash’s room with him. His face immediately burned up and he wanted to look away, but he couldn't gather enough willpower to do so. He found himself staring at Mahiru’s body like he was mesmerized. He noticed Mahiru’s skin tone was a little bit on the tanner side. It was especially obvious compared to Ash, who was rather pale from staying inside so much. Well, that and technically being undead in a confusing way.

Looking at Mahiru made Ash want to reach a hand out and touch the brunet. To trail a hand from his chest down to his stomach and let fingers linger right above the top of his pants. Mahiru was standing in front of his bed too. Ash could just walk up and gently push Mahiru down onto the bed. He could press his lips against Mahiru’s neck over and over again. He could bite down on Mahiru’s collarbone and maybe hear a moan come from Mahiru. That would be like music to Ash’s ears. The sound of Mahiru moaning because of Ash, it was a sound he could only dream of. He desperately wanted to know what it sounded like and what it would be like to hear Mahiru say his name in such a euphoric way. He wanted to know so bad that it was killing him. Wait, no. Actually, he wanted to know so bad that it ended up causing a problem… below the belt.

Ash felt so embarrassed for an entirely other reason now. He couldn't let Mahiru find out. Ash quickly moved the clothes he was holding so they were covering up the problem just in case it was visible. That's what he got for letting his mind wander in such an inappropriate way. That never happened to him before, though. Well, he never had a reason to think like that in the first place. Ash hadn't ever been interested in such a thing before meeting Mahiru.

Mahiru put Ash’s shirt on and looked over to the other male. He had his head down and seemed nervous. Mahiru assumed he knew what was wrong.

“Hey, why don't I step out for a moment since you have to change pants?” Mahiru offered.

Ash looked up at Mahiru. Seeing him wearing Ash’s shirt only made it worse. It definitely was a bit big on him and showed off Mahiru’s collarbone. Ash had to look back down again. He was too nervous to speak properly so he just nodded his head in agreement. Mahiru then walked out of Ash’s bedroom and closed the door to wait outside. Immediately Ash let out a big sigh of relief and dropped down to his knees.

“Can't deal, can't deal, can't deal…” Ash whispered to himself.

Kuro lifted his head and looked down at Ash, having no idea what his owner was complaining about.

“What do I dooo…? Aren't I supposed to, like, think about boring things, or something? Uuum… Okay, okay… What's boring to me? Math! ...I don't know how to do math… Crap! I gotta think of something else…” Ash ranted.

An idea popped in Ash’s head and he stood up. He went back to his closet to find what he was looking for.

Outside in the hallway, Mahiru leaned against the wall while waiting for Ash. The moment he stepped out of the room he felt awkward. Not because he was alone in someone else's house, but because of the thoughts running through his head. He was trying his best to forget about it, but at the missed opportunity of being in the same room as Ash while he changed, Mahiru couldn't help but remember when Ash lifted up his shirt after they played soccer. He couldn't believe the amount of disappointment that rushed through him when he offered to leave. Did he want to see more of Ash’s body? Mahiru had to admit that Ash wasn't bad to look at, even if he did have a look in his eyes that seemed like a fish mixed with a dead body. Still, Mahiru wasn't interested in Ash like that. Ash was just a new friend that he felt a close connection with. Nothing more, nothing less. There was nothing wrong with admitting that Ash had a nice body and leaving it at that. A body that didn't make sense for a shut-in to have and just so happened to be the type that Mahiru was into when it came to guys. Mahiru wouldn't let himself believe it, but he would've liked to see the rest of Ash’s body. Not that Ash seemed brave enough to let that happen in the first place.

Ash’s bedroom door opened, which startled Mahiru a bit, and Ash slowly walked out of the room with Kuro on his shoulder. He had on a white shirt and light blue hoodie with cat ears on the hood. Mahiru remembered seeing black jeans in Ash’s hands before he left, but the other male had on black sweatpants instead. He seemed a little on edge to Mahiru as well and couldn't quite look in the brunet’s direction.

“You good?” Mahiru asked.

“...Yeah.” Ash replied and nodded.

They both went back down the stairs and into the main room. It wasn't noticeable to Mahiru, but Ash could tell there was some serious tension in the room. The Mother was stirring the contents of a pot on the stove and All Of Love was sitting on the couch with Old Child. The second he saw his elder brother, the boy jolted up from the couch and confidently stood in front of Mahiru.

“There you are, you slut!” Old Child shouted.

“Oh great, here we go again.” Ash grumbled.

Mahiru immediately picked up Old Child and looked at the boy with a stern expression. It managed to surprise Old Child a little.

“Why must you insist on calling me names like that? I haven't done anything to you, have I? Where did you even hear those words?” Mahiru questioned.

“Uh- um, well… B-because you've been taking my big brother from me!” Old Child answered.

Ash became afraid that Old Child would let the truth slip.

“And I told you I'm sorry about that. That wasn't my intention. I hope we can get along, Old Child. And for the record, you're using those words incorrectly.” Mahiru said.

Ash felt relieved. Technically Mahiru was wrong since Old Child did know what those words meant and from his perspective Mahiru really was those things, but at least it meant that Mahiru didn't suspect anything.

Old Child just stared at Mahiru. He had to admit that the human seemed sincere, if not quite naive. There was even something about him that made Old Child feel at peace. He hated the idea of getting along with a lowly pathetic human, but maybe Old Child could simply tolerate him as a compromise. After all, there already was one other human the boy tolerated and Ash did seem interested in this one.

“I can put up with you, Mahiru Shirota, but just know that I'm keeping my eye on you. Veeeery closely.” Old Child warned and squinted his eyes at Mahiru.

“Haha, I'll keep that in mind. Thank you, Old Child.” Mahiru responded with a smile.

He gently put Old Child back down on the floor and the boy felt conflicted. Old Child was upset that Mahiru didn't hold him like earlier, but he was mad at himself for even wanting that.

Satisfied that the issue was finally settled, Ash went to sit down on the couch to the left. He fiddled with the bottom of his hoodie and couldn't seem to find a good position to keep his arms in, but finally settled on keeping his wrists crossed at the waist level. Kuro jumped down to curl up on the arm rest. Old Child immediately ran up and climbed onto the couch. He went to sit on Ash’s lap, but his brother quickly grabbed the boy and held him back.

“That's… not a good idea right now, Child.” Ash said.

“But Aaaash! Why not!? It's not fair!” Old Child protested.

“It-it's just not, okay? Maybe later.” Ash replied, sounding irritated.

Old Child groaned, but gave up and instead sat down as close to his brother as he could physically get. Love giggled and Mahiru smiled as the brunet sat down on the middle couch next to Love. The blonde glanced at Mahiru, finding it cute that he was wearing Ash’s shirt. In the background, Love saw Doubt walk through the wall.

“Oh, Doubt! Come here!” Love called out.

Everyone looked at Love curiously. In the hallway, Doubt backed up and looked at the blonde as well. He ducked a bit to avoid his paper bags hitting the top of the door frame and took a few steps into the room, causing the attention to go to him instead.

“Come meet Mahiru. He's staying for dinner.” Love requested.

Mahiru felt a little uncomfortable looking at the extremely tall man. He was very slender as well, to a point that it looked unnatural. His face was covered by a brown paper bag with a single hole in it for vision. Mahiru almost thought there was a tiny red glow coming from it. There were two other bags stacked on top of his head. One with a happy face drawn on and one with a frowning face. Hanging around his neck was a necklace with a cross attached. He was holding an empty glass bottle close to his chest.

“Ah, hello.” Mahiru greeted and nervously waved a hand at Doubt.

Doubt immediately tensed up and turned around, trying to quickly leave the room. Mahiru noticed he had his black hair contained in a very long ponytail that almost reached the floor. All Of Love practically jumped off the couch and ran up to Doubt to grab the older man by the arm. Doubt froze and easily gave up, simply mumbling incoherently to himself. Mahiru glanced at Ash, who just shrugged and looked away.

“Don't think you can get away that easily. Now, Mahiru, this is Doubt Doubt. Doubt, this is Mahiru Shirota, Ash’s... friend. Say hi.” Love told him, clearly as an order and not a suggestion.

“...Hi…” Doubt muttered, barely audible for Mahiru to hear.

“Hello.” Mahiru repeated.

Doubt then tried to walk away again, but Love only tightened his grip on his brother’s arm.

“Really, Doubt, you should stay. It won't be long until dinner gets underway.” Love said and tugged lightly enough on Doubt’s arm that the action wasn't visible.

Doubt groaned and walked with Love to the couch. The blonde sat in the middle and Doubt sat next to him on the opposite end of Mahiru. Doubt put his feet on the couch and pulled his knees close to his chest, still clutching onto the bottle. The room suddenly felt very awkward to Mahiru. He glanced at Doubt and became curious about the glass bottle.

“So, um… mind if I ask what the bottle is for?” Mahiru inquired.

Doubt quickly glanced up at Mahiru then to Love. The blonde smiled and nodded at Doubt as reassurance.

“...Ship in a bottle…” Doubt quietly answered.

Mahiru looked over to the cabinets next to the television and spotted the ships in a bottle that he remembered were there.

“Did you make the ones over in the cabinet there?” Mahiru asked and pointed to the cabinet.

Doubt nodded and Mahiru smiled.

“That's amazing! You must be really talented! I've always wondered how they're made. It must take a lot of hard work to make them.” Mahiru happily said.

Doubt pulled his knees closer to himself and nodded again. Mahiru wasn't sure if he was doing something wrong or not. Unbeknownst to him, Doubt felt overjoyed to hear such nice things said about himself.

“Doubt’s been making them for as long as I can remember. There's so many of them all over the house. He made one just for me that has pink sails and little hearts all over it! It's so cute!” Love said to help further the conversation along.

Doubt flinched and tugged on the edge of his bag, mumbling something to himself.

“He made me one too! It looks like a ghost ship!” Old Child added.

Doubt turned around on the couch to face the opposite direction of his brothers.

“Same. The one he made me has a crew of cats on the deck. One of ‘em has an eyepatch and I like that.” Ash stated.

Doubt let out a groan. It was more out of embarrassment than aggravation.

“Doubt made me one that looks like a yakatabune! Hahahaha!” Exclaimed an unfamiliar voice.

Everyone looked over to the room entrance to see Tsubaki. Mahiru didn't recognize him, but could immediately tell he was Japanese -or at least half since he must be one of Ash’s brothers- just from his facial features and the fact that he was wearing a kimono. Mahiru thought it was strange that he was wearing sunglasses inside, well, not as strange as Doubt wearing a paper bag over his head. Tsubaki noticed Mahiru in the room and immediately flashed a wide smile.

“Well hello there! And who is this stranger?” Tsubaki greeted.

Ash quietly groaned, concerned over how bad Tsubaki would make the situation become.

“Oh, hello! I'm Mahiru Shirota. Nice to meet you!” Mahiru greeted and held out his right hand.

Tsubaki hesitated. He could've sworn that name sounded familiar to him, but his mind was blanking on answers. Ignoring that, there was another reason Tsubaki was hesitant. Mahiru was holding out his right hand, meaning Tsubaki would have to use his right hand as well. He didn't want to, but Tsubaki reached out his right hand and shook Mahiru’s. Considering Doubt was a hard act to follow, Mahiru didn't think anything of the fact that Tsubaki’s kimono sleeve fully covered his arm and hand.

“Nice to meetcha too, Mahiru! I'm Who Is Coming Tsubaki, but just Tsubaki will do! My first name is soooo embarrassing! Hahaha!” Tsubaki replied.

Mahiru definitely thought Tsubaki’s name took the cake for most weirdest name so far. He was a bit curious on how the siblings’ parents’ came up with such odd things to name their children. Something dawned on Mahiru. Tsubaki’s last name was, well, Tsubaki and Old Child’s last name, he assumed, was Algernon. If they all shared the same father then why would some of them have different surnames? There was probably a simple explanation to it, so Mahiru didn't think too long about it. Although, he wondered what Ash’s last name was. It would make the most sense that it was Algernon, but Mahiru couldn't be sure until he heard it from Ash himself.

“Tsubaki, Mahiru is Ash’s new friend and he's staying for dinner.” All Of Love explained.

Tsubaki immediately turned around and stared at Ash with a slightly surprised expression. Ash looked away, bracing for however Tsubaki would react.

“Hahahahahaha!! Oh man! Oh- Hoo boy! Aaahahaha!! No way! No! Frickin’! Way! Hahahaha- Bored…” Tsubaki laughed until he abruptly stopped and looked uninterested.

The change severely confused Mahiru. He'd never seen someone completely switch like that before. He didn't even know why Tsubaki was laughing to begin with. Doubt tensed up from the loud sound of Tsubaki’s laughter. Ash just put a hand over his face and sighed. Old Child took notice of Tsubaki’s use of the word frickin’. Clearly he was listening to Wor talk too much.

“Tsubaki.” The Mother called from the kitchen.

“Hm? Yes, Sister?” Tsubaki asked, seemingly back to being cheerful.

“Go tell Tweedledee and Tweedledum that dinner’s almost ready.” She requested, hoping to get the youngest out of the room.

“O-kay!” Tsubaki saluted and ran off to head upstairs.

Mahiru heard a loud clacking sound and looked down as Tsubaki left. He was wearing traditional Japanese sandals. Mahiru realized that Tsubaki wasn't as tall as he initial appeared to be.

“You'll have to excuse Tsubaki, Mahiru. He's just…-”

“Insane.” Ash said for Love.

“...Loud.” Doubt mumbled.

“Obnoxious!” Old Child added.

“No! He's just… eccentric.” Love corrected.

Mahiru got the feeling that Tsubaki wasn't all that well liked by his siblings.

The room fell quiet other than the television and the sound of The Mother working in the kitchen. Old Child and Ash were focused on the television and Doubt put down the empty bottle on the coffee table, deciding that leaving wasn't really an option for him. Mahiru felt a little antsy. He wasn't used to sitting by and waiting while someone else did all the work. He looked over his shoulder and into the kitchen.

“Do you need any help with dinner?” Mahiru asked.

Everyone looked at Mahiru and The Mother turned around from the stove.

“Y-you don't have to do that, Mahiru.” Ash adamantly protested.

“You're the guest. It wouldn't be right.” Love said.

“Oh, it's okay. Really. I prefer doing most of the work, or at least helping. I'd rather be up and doing something than nothing anyway.” Mahiru reassured them.

“Okay then. You can come set the table.” The Mother decided.

Mahiru stood up and walked into the kitchen. The Mother opened up the cabinets and drawers that had the silverware, glasses, and plates so Mahiru knew where they were.

“Ash, why don't you come help too? It would be rude to make Mahiru do it alone.” The Mother suggested, trying to guilt trip her elder brother.

Ash didn't want to get up, but he didn't want to make Mahiru do all the work either. Mahiru liked helping after all and maybe he'd like Ash more too if he helped out. Still, getting up. At the moment it was much more than just a ‘too lazy’ issue. He'd just have to deal with it.

“Fine.” Ash grumbled as he slowly got up from the couch.

“It's okay, Ash. I don't mind doing it myself.” Mahiru said with a smile as he carried some plates to the table.

Ash nervously looked away and let himself drop back down onto the couch, making Old Child bounce up a bit. The Mother let it slide by since it's what Mahiru wanted.

Mahiru started placing plates down in front of the chairs. He felt a little silly for being so happy over setting a table. It was certainly nice to have the opportunity at least. At home all he had to do was sit down by himself, but at Ash’s house he would be sitting with lots of other people. It would be so fun and lively and Mahiru would be happier than he's ever been over dinner.

“When did we get a maid?”

“Idiot, does he look like a maid?”

Mahiru looked up from the table. He saw Tsubaki standing with two other men, Lawless and World End. He recognized them just a bit, but didn't actually know who they were.

“Ah, hello! I'm Mahiru Shirota!” Mahiru greeted.

“He’s Ash’s _frieeend_. He's staying for dinner.” Tsubaki added.

Lawless and Wor looked at each other, then looked to Ash. Ash turned away, looking irritated. His two younger brothers suddenly burst out laughing. Mahiru wasn't sure why he kept getting laughed at, but he assumed the reason lied more with Ash than himself. Mahiru simply walked up to them and held out a hand. It surprised the brothers enough to get them to stop laughing and be a little mature.

“I'm Lawless. Nice to properly meet you, Mahiru.” The blonde calmly greeted and shook Mahiru’s hand first.

“I'm World End! Wor for short! Nice to meetcha too!” Wor greeted and also shook Mahiru’s hand, albeit a bit roughly.

Being up close to the two men reminded Mahiru where he recognized them from.

“Oh, I remember now! You're the drunk two.” Mahiru said.

Lawless and Wor stared at Mahiru with a bit of embarrassment on their faces.

“Hahahahahaha!!” Tsubaki laughed.

“I-I-I am so sorry you had to see us like that! I swear we're not, like, alcoholics or anything!” Lawless nervously exclaimed.

“Yeah, yeah!” Wor added.

Mahiru let out a nervous chuckle. “It's fine, no judgement. I almost completely forgot about it anyway.”

“Whew, that's good. Hey, just to let ya know… I'm older than Ash!” Lawless exclaimed.

Ash tensed up on the couch and groaned. Of course Lawless was going to take the opportunity to pull out the physical age card. Spending centuries being the little brother despite both of them being physically eighteen would annoy Ash too. Still, Lawless was clearly announcing it just to be able to call Ash the younger one when Mahiru was present.

“And I'm older than him!” Wor shouted and pointed at Lawless.

“And I'm older than both of them!” Tsubaki abruptly announced and slung his arms around his older brothers’ shoulders, which clearly irritated them.

“Just keep in mind that I'm older than all three of youu~ Hehe!” Love said, trying to join in on the fun.

Lawless and Wor groaned. Tsubaki snickered considering that didn't change anything for him as the only one younger than Love.

“Are you the oldest, All Of Love?” Mahiru questioned.

“Oh, hehe. No, that'd be-”

“Doubt.” Ash interrupted just incase Love said something else.

Doubt lifted his head up and looked at Ash. The eldest brother couldn't discern any kind of emotion from Doubt so he wasn't sure what Doubt’s reaction was.

“I'm not… participating… in this.” Doubt grumbled and put his head back down.

Ash sighed while Love and Old Child laughed a bit. It sounded like a joke, but Doubt was serious. He didn't like lying and he thought it was wrong that everyone was participating in the lie. Still, he wasn't about to reveal the truth to Mahiru. It wasn't his place to possibly ruin everything for Ash. He hated taking action anyway.

“Hey, where is Mahiru going to sit?” The Mother asked, changing the topic.

It dawned on everyone that there was still only eight seats at the table. They weren't used to having a guest for dinner, and whenever Tsubaki brought Belkia over they both stayed in his room during dinner.

“Tsubaki can eat on the floor like Kuro.” Lawless suggested, only half joking.

“I am surprisingly okay with that.” Tsubaki shamelessly admitted.

“No! That wouldn't be fair. Isn't there enough room at the end of the table for a second chair?” Love questioned.

The Mother walked over to Ash’s side of the dining table to inspect it. Ash became nervous at the thought of Mahiru sitting so close to him at dinner.

“Yeah, but it'll be a tight squeeze. We don't actually have another chair for the table though.” The Mother said.

“There's the desk chair up in the library.” Old Child stated.

Mahiru was surprised to hear they had a whole room just for a library. Granted, he hadn't seen the entire house yet, but now he became curious to see it. Mahiru wondered what kind of books they had and how many too. 

Doubt quickly got up from the couch before All Of Love could stop him and left the main room. He decided to be the one to get the chair so he could have a moment of peace away from everyone. As he left, Mahiru noticed there was no sound to his footsteps. It came off as just a tad bit creepy to Mahiru. Since Doubt was gone, Ash took the opportunity to put his feet up on the coffee table. Tsubaki happily walked over to the couches, carefully stepped over Ash’s legs and plopped down next to Old Child which sort of squished the boy between Tsubaki and Ash. The elder two became annoyed at Tsubaki’s closeness. Mahiru and The Mother went back into the kitchen and Mahiru gathered up silverware to put on the table. With Mahiru’s attention diverted away from them, Lawless and Wor went to the couch and loomed over Ash with mischievous grins on their faces.

“...What do you want?” Ash quietly grumbled.

“Nyash brought the human over for _dinner_! Hehe~” Lawless mocked Ash in a whisper and Wor snickered with him.

“I didn't invite him over, Love did.” Ash whispered back.

“Still, you're letting him meet your family. You guys must be reeeal _close_ by now.” The blonde teased.

“Listen, I'm really not in the mood for this right now. I'll let you two bother me tomorrow, just leave me alone today.” Ash requested.

“Ohhh, does Ashy-Washy not wanna chat with his _big_ brothers tod- Ow!” Lawless was interrupted by Old Child smacking him in the forehead with his pipe.

“Ash said leave him alone, so leave him alone!” Old Child angrily exclaimed.

The blonde backed away and covered his face in agony. Wor frantically backed away too incase he got hit as well. Tsubaki started laughing at his brother’s pain so Old Child also smacked the youngest on the head with his pipe. Tsubaki yelped and rubbed his sore head.

“Nice job.” Ash complimented.

Old Child brimmed with joy at receiving a praise from his big brother.

“Old Child, don't resort to violence please. Ash, don't reward bad behavior. You know he's impressionable. And Lawless, how many times have I told you not to pick on Ash when Old Child is around? You'll only get hurt.” All Of Love scolded his brothers.

“...Sorry.” Lawless, Ash, and Old Child reluctantly apologized.

Mahiru quietly laughed to himself. He wasn't sure if they were actually fighting with each other or that's just how they got along. Still, the liveliness of Ash’s house made him happy to be there. It was a nice change of pace for Mahiru.

“Mahiru, what do you want to drink?” The Mother asked.

“Huh? Oh, um… Do you have orange juice?” Mahiru wondered, hoping he didn't sound childish.

“No, but we have apple juice… _lots_ of apple juice.” She said.

“That's fine.” Mahiru replied.

“I want apple juice too!” Old Child shouted.

“Me too, me too!” Wor added.

“Soda for me, please.” Ash stated.

“Water.” Doubt said as he walked back into the room holding the chair from the library in one hand.

Upon seeing Doubt was back in the room, Ash quickly removed his feet from the coffee table.

“If you're an adult I'm not getting it for you.” The Mother clarified.

“Aaww…” Ash, Wor, and Old Child groaned, but Doubt didn't since he planned to get his own drink anyway.

“Wait! I mean yay!” Old Child corrected himself.

“Ugh… Doubt, can you go put that next to Ash’s chair?” She requested.

Doubt nodded and walked over to Ash’s end of the table. He scooted Ash’s chair over to the side as far as it could go and placed down the smaller chair. It fit perfectly in the extra space, but the chairs were so close together that it left no wiggle room. Ash and Mahiru would just have to deal with the personal space intrusion.

The Mother moved the pot off the stove and turned it off. There was a second pot that she moved as well. Mahiru placed empty glasses down on the dining table and was satisfied with his finished work. He walked up to the counter.

“Anything else I can do?” Mahiru asked The Mother.

“You can take one the pots over to the table for me.” She replied.

Mahiru nodded and grabbed one of the pots by the handle, carrying it to the middle of the table. The Mother took the other pot and brought it to the table as well.

“Alright, dinner’s ready.” The Mother announced.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I felt like the last chapter was kinda weak, especially in the KuroMahi department. So I tried to ramp it up in this chapter and really try my best with it, but... I might've gone a little overboard... on everything... (´･_･`)
> 
> Y'all are not gonna believe the amount of research I had to do to figure out how Ash should handle his... problem. I'm a girl, and I'm probably the definition of prudish(shocking considering some things I've written) so I know absolutely nothing about that topic. I read a WikiHow guys. A WikiHow. And Reddit. Let that sink in.
> 
> Anyway... this chapter isn't actually over, so stay tuned for part two! Hugh would be proud that his name is gonna be in two titles.

**Author's Note:**

> I originally did have them play actual Tekken 7 with Jin Kazama and Lucky Chloe, but while proof-reading it just didn't feel right so I changed it to a fake off-brand Tekken. I have never played a Tekken game in my life, but Lucky Chloe and the Noctis DLC really make me want to get it. Sorry to anyone that doesn't know a thing about Tekken, like me, or doesn't like it all ( ´_ゝ`) I have no idea if I'll make them play anymore games or not. So I can't make any promises on whether it'll happen again or not.


End file.
